MOSCOW, June 11 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Presidential Council for Human Rights has welcomed a court decision to release Oyub Titiyev, the director of the republican office of Memorial NGO convicted of illegal possession of drugs, on parole, the advisory body’s press service reports.

However, the Council’s Chairman Mikhail Fedotov believes that a fight for his acquittal and full rehabilitation must be continued, the statement reads.

On Monday, a court in Chechnya granted parole to Titiyev. His petition for parole was supported by both a prosecutor and the colony authorities. The advocate is expected to leave prison in 10 days.

Titiev was sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony settlement. He pleaded not guilty but refused to appeal the ruling.

According to the Interior Ministry of Chechnya, on January 9, police officers stopped Titiyev’s car during a preventive control operation. As police officers searched the car, a package filled with a plant-based substance smelling of marihuana was found. The package was then sent for analysis while the head of the office was brought in for a medical examination.