A Baku court has released a prominent Azerbaijani journalist who was jailed on charges of high treason in December.
The Baku Court of Appeals on March 17 reduced Rauf Mirqadirov's 6 1/2 year prison term to a suspended 5-year sentence.
He was immediately released from custody.
Mirqadirov was found guilty of spying for Armenia and sentenced on December 28.
Mirqadirov and his supporters have insisted that the case against him is politically motivated.
Mirqadirov, 54, worked as a correspondent for the Russian-language newspaper, Zerkalo, which is published in Azerbaijan.
He was detained in Baku after he was deported from Turkey in 2014.
His arrest sparked widespread condemnation from international rights groups.
