OSCE media watchdog, Council of Europe voice concern on media in Azerbaijan

VIENNA/STRASBOURG, 10 September 2003 - Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Freimut Duve, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, today made the following joint statement regarding the media situation in Azerbaijan.

"We are deeply concerned by the continuous reports regarding harassment of the media and intimidation of journalists in Azerbaijan.

We are in particular alarmed by the fate of the newspaper Yeni Musavat, which has been sentenced to three fines amounting in total to 100,000 US Dollars and whose bank account has been frozen. Without commenting on the substance of the law suits, it seems clear that such a high fine is disproportionate and might undermine the financial viability of this newspaper. We are all the more worried that this may discourage critical reporting at a time when media pluralism and the full and unhindered exercise of press freedoms will be essential in the run up to the forthcoming presidential elections.

We trust that the Azerbaijani authorities will take all necessary steps in order to ensure that such obstruction does not take place in Azerbaijan and to guarantee respect for freedom of the media in accordance with the pertinent international standards, as enshrined in particular in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Azerbaijan is a Party.

We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to review the provisions concerning libel contained in the Azerbaijani Law in the light of the above standards taking all appropriate measures to align these provisions and their implementation with these standards.

We are also extremely concerned about the attack against several journalists outside the main Baku Police Station that took place on 8 September 2003. As a result, ten journalists have been injured. We expect the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of this assault against media representatives as soon as possible and to inform our respective organisations of its results, and we expect the Government of Azerbaijan to ensure that a free and open media landscape prevails in their country."