The winter session of the PACE

On Monday PACE winter session opened in Strasbourg, which will last until 27 January. According to the Council of Europe press service, the session on the agenda  are the issues of the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey and Ukraine, the Syrian crisis, the attack on the journalists, online media and freedom of the media in Europe.

At the session will make speeches President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis, President of Romania, Klaus Johannis, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jaglandwill also make a speech.

The meeting will also discuss the situation in Lebanon in the context of calls for regional stability and European security, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Azerbaijani delegation left to participate in the session in Strasbourg.

According to the report, published on the website of the Milli Majlis, the delegation headed by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee  includes Rafael Huseynov, Sevinj Fataliyeva, Sahib Gafarov, Vusal Huseynov and Sabir Hajiyev.

It is noteworthy that the delegation  does not include  Elkhan Suleymanov and Muslim Mamedov, the defendants in the scandal connected with the investigation of the Italian Office of Public Prosecutor of the facts of bribery of deputies of the PACE, and in particular Luka Volonte. In addition, the NGO "European Initiative for Stability" made a report on “Caviar Diplomacy-2” 'sheds light on the facts of corruption in the PACE.

About 60 civil society activists appealed to the PACE session with a call to exclude liminate Suleymanov and Mamedov from the Assembly, and the voice of the Azerbaijani delegation to suspend pending investigation. At the same time, on behalf of the 96 pro-government NGOs  a letter to  protect the Azerbaijani government was sent to Strasbourg. -06D—