In the panel of rapporteurs at UNESCO press freedom conference: Question from the audience: RIght now Azerbaijani court announced that it sentenced eight peaceful protest organizers to up to 8 years in prison. Today Azerbaiijan is also presenting its plan for Human rights during its chairmanship in CoE Council of Ministers. Are you aware of what kind of practices Azerbaijan brings to Europe? Dunja Mijatovic : I am very well aware of what is going on in Azerbaijan. I folllow the situation closely and visit the country. When OSCE calls itself a club of democracies I always protest and say, we cant be a club of democracies when we have countries, jailing journalists and bloggers. May be it is the right time for azerbaijan to address this issues during its chairmanship in the Council of Ministers. May be it is the right time to change the conditions that allow the country to jail protesters and critiques. I am always told by officials that these people are arrested with different charges - they are all hooligans, drug dealers and criminals. Off course my job is not to defend criminals, but I also know that in Azerbaijan, like in some other countries, charges against journalists are fabricated, these are trumped up charges. Public officials do whatever they can to silence criticism. As I told before we should speak out about these things, be more courageous and use our mandate to name and shame abuses.
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 10:48:17 +0000
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