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OSCE Praises Release of Three Azeri Journalists from Imprisonment

April 23, 2009

On April 21, Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of Media praised the release of three Azeri journalists from imprisonment. Two of them will be set free based on a decision of the Parliament of Azerbaijan and the second will be released based on a decision of the court.

Miklos Haraszti expressed his hope in a letter to the government of Azerbaijan that soon cases  based on slander in Azerbaijan will be discussed in accordance with the European Standards. The recent statements of President Ilham Aliev encouraged the OSCE representative to hope so.

Haraszti called upon the authority of Azerbaijan to avoid detention of journalists based on slander.

“Your positive aims will be fruitful only after certain amendments are introduced in the law on slander,” stated Haraszti. He advised Azerbaijan to decriminalize slander.

Besides that, Haraszti is concerned about two draft laws about media and TV-Radio broadcasting.

The OSCE representative calls upon the government to work out these laws in accordance with  international standards and responsibilities.

“I hope, the recent positive tendency regarding the release of journalists will soon impact those journalists who are still in prison like Vinula Patulaieva, Ganimat Zahidov and Mushpik Huseinov,” said Haraszti.

Source: Media.ge

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