667th Meeting of the Permanent Council
Only two weeks ago, the European Union voiced its regret about the sentencing of two media representatives in Azerbaijan to three and four years imprisonment on libel charges. Today we have to note with deep concern that this and previous appeals to the Government of Azerbaijan to conform to OSCE standards on freedom of the media have gone unheeded.
Like the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr. Miklos Haraszti, we were shocked to hear that Muxalifet Newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Mr. Rovshan Kebirli and its correspondent Mr. Yashar Agazadeh were sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment on May 16th, on charges of libel and insult against a Member of Parliament from the ruling party. Regrettably, these two cases bring the number of journalists who are currently serving prison sentences in Azerbaijan to seven.
In a further negative development, the staff of the independent newspapers, Realny Azerbaijan and Gyundelik Azerbaijan were evicted from their editorial offices on May, 20th. The Ministry for Emergency Situations claimed structural deficiencies in the building posed a serious threat to the safety of the journalists, but commercial and private tenants were allowed to remain in the building. Since the eviction the newspapers' servers and archives have been searched by national security personnel. We would agree with Mr Haraszti that this all represents "an openly oppressive stance, going beyond the previously seen discriminatory treatment of independent media" and call on the Azerbaijani Authorities to allow the journalists to return to the premises and resume printing.
This eviction follows the imprisonment of the founder and editor in chief of the two newspapers, Eynulla Fatullayev, a month ago. Since the eviction, the daily Gundalik Azerbaycan, which publishes in Azerbaijani, has not been printed, while the printing of the Russian language weekly Realnyi Azerbaijan, is also endangered.
In its statement of 10 May the EU rejected the argument that it is appropriate to counter a lack of journalists’ professionalism by continued regulation of the media through criminal courts. The EU firmly supports the OSCE Representative’s statement of 17 May which said that “only a combination of freedom of expression and media self-regulation may strengthen professionalism of the media.“
The EU is firmly convinced that the media situation in Azerbaijan should be remedied, and calls on all parties concerned to work together to find an acceptable solution. A lively and critical press is an essential prerequisite of democracy. The EU stands ready to facilitate any attempt to move things forward, and also appeals to Azerbaijan to improve co-operation with Mr Haraszti.
The EU reminds Azerbaijan of the commitments made in the framework of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy, and urges the Azerbaijani authorities to concretely demonstrate their willingness to abide by these commitments.
The Candidate Countries Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, as well as EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
