GROZNY, June 21. /TASS/. Head of the Memorial Human Rights Center’s Chechen office Oyub Titiyev, sentenced to four years for drug possession, has been released from prison on parole, a TASS correspondent reported, adding that Titiyev’s family members, colleagues and lawyers had welcomed him at the prison gate.

Chechnya’s Shali District Court had earlier upheld Titiyev’s parole application.

Titiyev was detained on January 9, 2018. According to law enforcement agencies, a 200-gram marijuana package was found in his car. The human rights activist pled not guilty, saying the drugs had been planted on him. On March 18, the Shali City Court sentenced him to four years under Article 228.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (possession of large amount of drugs).

Many public figures and human rights organizations around the world came out in Titiyev’s support. In February 2019, The European parliament passed a resolution on the situation in Chechnya, calling for Titiyev’s immediate release.