Mijatovic to visit Azerbaijan in November

Traditional ninth ​​South Caucasus OSCE conference on the media  issues, the theme of which  is  "From traditional media to on-line media: best practice and perspectives" finished in Tbilisi. The conference resulted in  the issue of the Declaration consisting of 16 points, calling  the  governments to respect freedom of speech and press, to stop the pressure on journalists, bloggers and activists, setting out their critical thinking in on-line media, Turan correspondent reported from Tbilisi.

During the discussions, the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova  told about  the arrests of blogger Zaur Gurbanli, a human rights activist  Taleh Hsmamedov, a journalist Faramaz Allahverdiyev for their comments on social networks.

In this regard,  the OSCE Special Representative  for Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, said that

she will bring up these issues during her visit to Azerbaijan in November. According to her, the freedom of the press  is violated not only in the South Caucasus, but also  in other regions.

"I will do everything possible to investigate the matter, and I hope that the adopted declaration will help me," said Mijatovic. She noted the importance of the Tbilisi conference for press freedom in the region.

"We protect journalists who express their opinions. We will try to promote the development of journalism and new media. The authorities should ensure the dissemination of free speech. OSCE countries should accept  and implement our recommendations," said Mijatovic.

Commenting on the results of the conference, a lawyer of  IREX, Alasgar Mammadov , said that the representatives of Azerbaijan have focused on the problems of the Internet and freedom of expression.—16C06-