EU Parliament criticizes Azerbaijan on alleged media curbs
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution critical of
what it calls the deterioration of media freedom in Azerbaijan,
RFE/RL reported.
The vote, by a show of hands, followed a parliamentary debate on
freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
The resolution, put forward by MEPs including former Lithuanian
President Vytautas Landsbergis, criticized the jailing of
opposition journalists such as newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev
and called for their immediate release.
It also called for the release of two bloggers, Emin Milli and
Adnan Hacizade, who were jailed last month for hooliganism on what
MEPs said appeared to have been politically motivated charges.
"The widespread practice of harassment, prosecution, and conviction
of opposition journalists [in Azerbaijan] is alarming," Tunne
Kelam, an Estonian MEP, told the session. "We call on Azerbaijani
authorities to release the journalists in jail without further
delay. This concerns also two young bloggers."
The resolution also urged authorities to renew FM radio licenses of
a number of international broadcasters such as RFE/RL and the BBC
World Service. *
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