To mark the birthday of his deceased father and predecessor Heidar Aliyev, President Aliyev signed a decree on 10 May pardoning 363 prisoners. Those freed include several human rights activists and individuals considered by the Council of Europe to be political prisoners, among them the former acting head of the Baku Naval College, Djanmirza Mirzoev. Mirzoev was sentenced in November 2001 to eight years\' imprisonment on charges, which he denied, of arranging the murder in 1993 of Rear Admiral Eduard Huseinov. Mirzoev claimed at his trial he was sentenced in retaliation for his campaign to expose corruption within the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. (Turan)