Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, released from prison on Thursday under an amnesty after serving four years, thanked the International Press Institute (IPI) and other organisations for their support during his imprisonment, and said he was savouring freedom.

Speaking to IPI by telephone he said, audibly relieved: “Thank you very much for all your support and solidarity. I was released yesterday, and now I’m good. I’m spending time with my family, friends and colleagues.”

Fatullayev was amnestied by the country’s president Ilham Aliyev and freed on 26 May.

In February, IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills and Director Alison Bethel McKenzie travelled to Azerbaijan to hold talks with the IPI Azerbaijan National Committee, media representatives and the government about strengthening press freedom and to press the government to free Fatullayev. The journalist’s release followed advocacy by other international organizations, including the OSCE.

Nine of IPI’s World Press Freedom Heroes honoured for their courage in fighting for press freedom added their names to a letter to Aliyev seeking amnesty for Fatullayev. The IPI had also been lobbying for his release through the campaign “Justice Denied,” which it first launched in 2008.

Fatullayev, editor of the now-closed newspapers Realny Azerbaijan and Gündalik Azarbaycan, was first incarcerated in 2007 on a charge of criminal defamation for an article he wrote in 2005, and later charged with threatening terrorism over a March 2007 article. Found guilty, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

Following Fatullayev’s appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), authorities in December 2009 said they found heroin in his cell, and he was sentenced to an additional two and a half years in prison.

Many believe the drug charge to have been fabricated to prevent his release in the event that the court in Strasbourg found a violation of his rights.

On 22 April 2010, the ECHR ordered the immediate release of the journalist and the judgment became final on 4 October 2010. In reference to the decision by the ECHR, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court revoked the charges of defamation, terrorism, and incitement to racial hatred, and ruled that Fatullayev had served a concurrent term for tax evasion, according to Amnesty International. However, he was not released until 26 May.

IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “We are extremely happy to have been able to speak to Eynulla as a free man. It has been a long fight for so many who worked hard to see this day.”