BAKU (JAMnews) — The leader of the REAL opposition party Ilgar Mammadov held his first press conference since his release from prison after having served five and a half years.

Mammadov was sentenced in 2013 to seven years in prison on charges of organizing riots in Ismayilli in the north of Azerbaijan and resisting police. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in May 2014 that his arrest was in violation of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and demanded his release. Mammadov was subsequently let out on conditional release ahead of schedule in early August. Some associated this with Angela Merkel’s visit to Baku, which was expected later that month.