Debate in PACE: It�s Time to Apply Sanctions against Azerbaijan

Baku / 27.06.17 / Turan: On the eve of the PACE session in Strasbourg, a debate was held on the theme: "Press suppression in the Council of Europe: abductions across borders".

Emin Huseynov, Executive Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), told Voice of America that the press was focused on pressure on the free press in Azerbaijan, death of the journalist Mehman Galandarov in jail, the abduction of the journalist Afgan Mukhtarli in Georgia and his transfer to Azerbaijan.

About 20 deputies from 10 countries took part in the hearings.

"Two deputies from the ruling party of Georgia attended the event. They expressed regret over the incident with Afgan Mukhtarli, saying they are in favor of ensuring that the investigation very soon reveals the truth," Huseynov said.

In addition to him, Ganimat Zahid, the founder of the Azerbaijani Hour (Azerbaijan Saaty) TV program, provided information about the situation in Azerbaijan.

He spoke about the pressure exerted on the employees of the newspaper Azadlig and Turan TV, as well as the attempted assassination on him.

Lasha Tugushi, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Rezonansi, who spoke as a media expert from Georgia, noted that abduction of Mukhtarli contradicts the idea of ​​Georgia"s integration into the West.

He stressed that representatives of Georgia"s media and civil society will continue to work together with their colleagues from Azerbaijan shoulder to shoulder.

According to Huseynov, the leader of the faction of the ruling party in the Georgian parliament said his government was not involved in the abduction of Mukhtarli.

The participants in the debate noted the obstacles to visiting Georgia.

Huseynov also noted that the purpose of the meeting was to demonstrate to the European deputies that there is no sense in tolerating the actions of the Azerbaijani government. Therefore, if Baku continues not to abide by its obligations to the Council of Europe, a sanctions mechanism should be launched.

"We drew the attention of the PACE deputies that the European Parliament has already adopted a resolution in connection with violations of the fundamental freedoms of government critics in Azerbaijan. It is time that the PACE also demanded Baku fulfill its obligations. If this does not happen, then appropriate mechanisms should be launched, up to the discussion of excluding Azerbaijan from the organization," Huseynov said.

According to him, in the coming days, meetings with individual deputies and leaders of political groups in PACE will continue, with the aim of improving the prison conditions of political prisoners and their release. -06D--