PACE session, media issues and internet freedom

Baku/21.10.22/Turan: Human rights activist, head of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety Emin Huseynov, who took part in the PACE autumn session, talks in the “Difficult Question” program about the new PACE rapporteur and co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, the annual report of Freedom House on Internet freedom and rules of media registry.

According to him, the main event related to Azerbaijan at the PACE autumn session was that the organization's monitoring committee elected two new co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan for the next five years.

“They were Liz Kristoffersen from the Norwegian “Labor Party” and Hannah Bardell from the UK.

Liz Kristofferson will monitor all shortcomings in the field of democracy, human rights, corruption and elections in Azerbaijan.

Hannah Bardell, rapporteur on the safety of journalists and human rights activists in Azerbaijan, will have to research and study this issue for two years and prepare a report for PACE.

Representative of the British Conservative Party Ian Liddell-Granger voluntarily assumed the mission of the PACE rapporteur on Azerbaijan,” Huseynov said. The human rights activist noted that the co-rapporteurs will start their work in October.

“We have great expectations that the new co-rapporteurs will be more principled towards the Azerbaijani authorities than their predecessors,” the human rights activist said.

According to Huseynov, the visit of the co-rapporteurs to Azerbaijan scheduled for February 5-6 next year will be an evaluation one. “The co-rapporteurs will meet with members of the government, with President Ilham Aliyev, with deputies, representatives of civil society and the media, and will visit political prisoners. I am sure that the government will not be able to prevent this visit,” he stressed, adding that the focus will be on issues of democracy, human rights, freedom of the press, expression and other fundamental rights.

Referring to the issues discussed at the PACE plenary session, Huseynov said that the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, the tension that arose on September 13 on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in September, were mainly discussed.

The importance of the institute of PACE rapporteurs can hardly be overestimated. “It is thanks to this institution that PACE is the only international organization that advocates for the interests of citizens,” Huseynov said.