Media Bill could bury independent media

Baku/12.24.21/Turan: The Media Development Agency (MEDIA) held on December 22, at the initiative of the Milli Mejlis, a discussion of the draft law "On Media." The discussion was attended by journalists, media experts, media, heads of the National Council on Television and Radio, heads of parliamentary committees Ali Huseynli, Zahid Oruj and others.

The day before, lawyer Alasgar Mammadli was invited to parliament to continue consultations on the legal aspects of the bill. As a result of these discussions, the opinion was formed in society that a consensus had been reached between the initiators of the bill and its opponents. But is it really so?

Media expert and lawyer Alasgar Mammadli, who took part in the discussions on December 22 and parliamentary consultations a day later clarified this question in the  “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, these consultations were attended by the heads of parliamentary committees, deputy Gudrat Hasanguliyev, chairman of the National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting Ismet Sattarov, as well as another specialist from this organization, lawyer and head of the MEDIA department Natik Mammadli, director of Turan news agency Mehman Aliyev, chairman of the Association of Journalists "Yeni Nesil" Arif Aliyev, Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Azerbaijan Elchin Shikhly. At the same time, there were the head of IA APA Vusala Mahir and others.

According to Mammadli, before the adoption of the document by the parliament, together with the expert community, the moments that create problems for the media should be carefully analyzed and a consensus reached. “But unfortunately, before the bill was submitted to parliament, it was kept secret and as soon as possible (within a week) was adopted in the second reading, practically without any changes. Only after that we were invited to the discussions,” he stressed.

Mammadli believes that the bill is in conflict with the Constitution of Azerbaijan, as well as international treaties signed by Azerbaijan. It deprives journalism of self-regulatory mechanisms and concentrates all powers in the hands of the executive branch, and regulates the professional and creative activities of media workers.

In addition, the document defines who can engage in journalism, establishes a register of journalists, and introduces a unified form of journalistic identity.

According to Mammadli, no less worrisome are the articles of the bill providing for: licensing of broadcasting platforms; regulating the accreditation of journalists; allowing the termination of the activities of the media and thereby restricting freedom of expression.

“Consultations in parliament on the legal aspects of the bill have shown that it will take not hours, many days to discuss all its shortcomings. Ultimately, a rapprochement of positions was achieved on some technical issues, while the main conceptual issues remained open,” the lawyer said.--0-