PACE Committee approves the report of Strasser

Today the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a draft resolution for political prisoners based on the report of the German deputy Christopher Strasser.

The committee meeting was closed to the press, therefore the details are unknown. At the same time, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, Samed Seyidov, told Turan that the draft resolution was adopted by 26 votes "for" at 22 "against", and will be introduced at the autumn session of PACE.

According to Seyidov, the report is "not on Azerbaijan, but on the problem of political prisoners." At the same time, he noted that the Azerbaijani deputies voted against the report. Seyidov, referring to the employment, did not explain why the Azeris voted "no", if the report does not concern them.

Meanwhile, informed sources in PACE told Turan that the discussion was heated, and was specifically on issues related to Azerbaijan. A statement by 30 pro-government NGOs from Azerbaijan was issued to participants of the meeting, which reads that the report was biased, and Strasser prepared the document without visiting Azerbaijan. It is not clear why these NGOs say that it was biased. 

Today Strasser himself will hold a press conference at 15:30. He was appointed a rapporteur of PACE for political prisoners in Azerbaijan in 2009. However, the Azerbaijani authorities have not allowed his arrival to the country, arguing that the term political prisoner has no precise definition. —06C--