President of Turkmenistan Gurbankuly Berdymuhammedov signed a pardon in the light of the forthcoming "Neutrality Day". Three hundred and ninety prisoners, human rights defender Valery Pal among them, are to be released from jail.

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Pal was arrested on fabricated charges on the night on February 22, 2008. In fact, he was detained on suspicion of embezzlement. On May 14, Pal stood trial in the city of Turkmenbashi and received 12 years in a maximum security penitentiary (without confiscation).

news agency "Die Deutsche Welle" reports that political prisoners in Turkmenistan are tried and imprisoned either for terrorism or for economic crimes. The widespread opinion is that these cases are easy to fabricate, particularly against people in state structures and organisations.

Two mass amnesties took place in Turkmenistan since Pal's arrest. He got lucky on the third try. Pal's family claims that imprisonment badly affected his state of health.

Pal was released from the jail in the town of Mary on Sunday morning. Met by friends and family, he thanked everyone who had helped with his release and said he wanted a cup of coffee, his first in months.

The Democratic Civil Union of Turkmenistan operating in the Netherlands released a special statement to announce that "... Pal's release would have been impossible without broad international support." "As soon as the news of his arrest reached them, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Democratic Civil Union of Turkmenistan set out to rally the international human rights community, Western governments, and activists to Pal's defense. It is difficult if possible at all to overestimate the value of assistance from non-governmental organizations, media, human rights activists, and socially active people from all over the world whose letters and appeals to the Turkmen leadership finally resulted in Pal's release from jail."

Pal worked at the refinery in Krasnovodsk, a city on the Caspian Sea coast. He became involved with human rights organizations in 1993 when he himself took an active part in civilian protests against the plans to rename Krasnovodsk into Turkmenbashi. Pal was involved in numerous human rights programs in Turkmenistan.