At the end of the meeting with the Azerbaijani media on the safety of journalists yesterday, Nils Muiznieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, and Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission, stated that they stand ready to support progress in Azerbaijan in the field of securing the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, both offline and online.
Welcoming the readiness of the Azerbaijani authorities to enlarge a dialogue with them and to pursue cooperation activities in these fields, they stressed that "a clear sign of Azerbaijani Government’s commitments to enhancing freedom of expression would be the initiation of effective and transparent investigation into crimes against journalists, thereby putting an end to impunity in this field," the document says.
Another sign of progress would be the release from detention of journalists, bloggers and citizens imprisoned for expressing their views.
The adoption of the necessary legislative changes, including the decriminalization of defamation with the relevant recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights, will also testify to this commitment.
Finally Muznieks, Mijatovic and Kroes also stressed the role of the media profession itself in upholding genuine freedom of expression, the role and importance of professional standards. -02D-
Politics
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On November 14, the House of Commons of the UK Parliament held a hearing on "Academic Freedom and Corruption in Azerbaijan's Energy Sector," focusing on the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. The event, organized in collaboration with Global Witness and the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, was moderated by Joe Powell, head of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption.
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Head of the External Relations and Security Service of the EU Josep Borrel rejected the accusations against him and European countries made by the head of Azerbaijan at the COP29 conference the previous day.
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On Thursday, President Ilham Aliyev received the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, who arrived to participate in the COP29 climate conference.
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today issued five rulings on applications from Azerbaijan. The case of "Afgan Mammadov v. Azerbaijan" concerned the complainant's exclusion from the Bar Association. Mammadov was expelled based on a complaint filed by a colleague, which he considered unjust. The ECHR ruled that Mammadov's rights had been violated and ordered Azerbaijan to pay him €5,000 in compensation for moral damage and €1,000 to cover legal costs.
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