OSCE welcomes release of Azerbaijani journalist

VIENNA, 12 July 1999 - Freimut Duve, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, welcomes reports that Azerbaijan's sole incarcerated journalist, Fuad Qahramanli, has been granted amnesty by President Haydar Aliyev.

Duve, who, in February of this year, was the first foreign government official to visit Qahramanli in prison, has repeatedly and insistently called for Qahramanli's release in letters to President Aliyev and in public fora, as well as in declarations to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna. Other non-governmental organizations also supported Duve's calls for Qahramanli's release from prison.

Qahramanli was sentenced to prison for having written on his computer a critical article based on old non-public documents. The article was never published.

Duve hopes that Qaramanli's amnesty is a positive sign in the difficult ongoing relationship between government and media in Azerbaijan.