Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev was included in...

Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev was included in the list of nominees under consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize. Muzamil Abdullayev, a doctor of science from Baku and former political prisoner, nominated him. Abdullayev had held the post of first deputy Prime Minister in the Azerbaijani government, before being given a life sentence for backing the mutiny of ex-Prime Minister Surat Huseynov. He served four years and was then pardoned by Aliyev. However his decision to nominate Heydar Aliyev's candidacy for this international prize was not only connected to his pardon. Abdullayev wrote that over 50,000 prisoners were pardoned from 1993-99. But the most important point was that Azerbaijan has become the first Muslim country to abolish the death penalty.