Harlem Désir once again called for the release of Afghan Mukhtarly

Vienna/11.22.19/Turan: It is necessary to protect not only the physical, but also the legal security of journalists, says OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir. He said this on Friday in Vienna, submitting a report on two-year work to the OSCE Permanent Council.

“A year ago, 57 member states of the organization confirmed the decision of the Council of Ministers on the safety of journalists. However, much remains to be done to ensure the implementation of this decision. The truth is that many journalists and media workers are still harassed and attacked only for doing their job, expressing their opinion,” Désir said.

Désir noted that over the past five months, he has intervened in the security situations of 69 journalists and made 51 statements.

He welcomed the release of several journalists in Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.

“I am deeply concerned about the continued detention in Afghanistan of Mukhtarly’s prison in Azerbaijan,” Désir said, promising to continue efforts to release him and other journalists in the OSCE region.

* Investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was abducted in Tbilisi in May 2017 and secretly transferred to Azerbaijan, where he was accused of smuggling, illegal border crossing, and violence against the border guard and sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Mukhtarly’s arrest was condemned by the European Parliament, international human rights organizations. Amnesty International recognized him as a “prisoner of conscience”. - 02D-