PACE winter session

Winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which will last until January 30, has opened today in  Strasbourg. The agenda of the session is: the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, the terrorist attacks in Paris, and the protection of freedom of speech in Europe. Discussions on the topic of freedom of speech will begin on January 29 at 13:00 Baku time. The draft resolution expressed particular concern over the freedom of media in Azerbaijan. The document mentions the case arrested  journalist Khadija Ismailova in Azerbaijan,  who investigated corruption  among the country's top leadership. The resolution calls on Baku to immediately release her and the other imprisoned journalists, and to cease their harassment.

In addition, among the killed members of the press are   the names of Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov and Rafiq Tagi.

PACE will also consider the question of the credentials of the Russian delegation. At the April session of PACE deprived the Russian delegation's voting rights until January, and ruled Russia from all governing bodies of the Assembly in connection with the annexation of the Crimea.

On Sunday, the State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, who arrived in Strasbourg, responded to a request PACE President Anne Brasseur to help to release from custody a Ukrainian military servicewoman Hope Savchenko. Naryshkin said that Savchenko, who is accused of killing in the two Russian journalists in Donbass, will be released only if the court does find her guilty.

Brasseur insisted on the presence  of Savchenko, elected to the Ukrainian parliament, at the opening session of the PACE Strasburge.-06D-