The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, expressed deep concern about proposed amendments to the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan which would keep defamation as a criminal offence and extend its reach to online media.
"The National Action Plan on Human Rights that was decreed by the President Aliyev in 2006 prescribes steps to decriminalize defamation. The amendments, proposed by the Prosecutor General, go in the opposite direction. In addition, I am especially concerned about the provision to include all publicly accessible online resources," Mijatovic said.
"I call on the government of Azerbaijan to keep its promise to continue the process to decriminalizing speech offences," Mijatovic said. "My office is ready to further assist in this process."
The current law provides for up to three years in jail for criminal defamation convictions. The OSCE office in Baku and the press council of Azerbaijan, supported by the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media, has been working since 2006 on decriminalizing defamation in Azerbaijan. -0-
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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