Azernews.Az

A law on defamation revoking criminal prosecution for libel and insults may be passed in Azerbaijan, but this requires certain preparations, particularly improving the skills of journalists, a senior Azerbaijani official has said.
Ali Hasanov, the head of the Presidential Administration socio-political department, told a conference entitled "Values of the new media era" in Baku on Wednesday that a common code of journalists’ ethics should be adopted, and the heads of media outlets should pledge to abide by it. "Only after that could the Law on Defamation be passed."
Miklos Haraszti, the former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, in his remarks, pointed to the importance of adopting a libel law in Azerbaijan soon.
"The other two countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia and Georgia – have already adopted this law. If Azerbaijan follows suit, there will be considerable advances in this area. There won’t be instances like the arrests of journalists and bloggers. Moreover, law enforcement agencies should be instructed not to pressure journalists."
Haraszti also called upon the Azerbaijani authorities to enforce the European court’s ruling regarding the jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a ruling in April calling for Fatullayev’s immediate release. The court also imposed a fine worth 25,000 euros on the Azerbaijani government, claiming that the newspaper editor’s rights had been violated. The authorities rejected the ruling, saying Azerbaijan would appeal to the ECHR’s upper chamber. However, an appeal has not been filed so far.
The host of the conference, Eric Fichtelius, insistently asked Presidential Administration official Hasanov about the reasons for what he called the Azerbaijani authorities’ failing to comply with the ECHR ruling. In his reply, Hasanov said he "couldn’t be responsible for everything".
"I could be responsible for a journalist’s work until his arrest. But after that, he is considered a criminal."
Fatullayev, the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani-language daily Gundalik Azerbaijan was sentenced in 2007 to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges on defamation, incitement of ethnic hatred, threatening with terror and tax evasion. The ECHR alleged that it had found Azerbaijan in violation of two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was ratified by Azerbaijan in 2002.
Hasanov objected to the statements by those critical of the media freedom situation in Azerbaijan, particularly Miklos Haraszti. He noted that it would be wrong and unfair to call the Azerbaijani media "unfree".
"Mass media in Azerbaijan are not subject to censorship, and there are absolutely no obstacles to access to information," Hasanov said.
Haraszti countered by citing what he termed as journalists’ arrests and gaps in legislation. According to him, the Azerbaijani authorities should instruct law enforcement bodies not to pressure media representatives.
Hasanov, who took the floor again, delivered a stern response to the former OSCE media freedom representative.
"The whole world is not of this opinion. You, Mr. Haraszti, don’t mean the world. We know where these issues are being governed from."
The conference organizers are the association of broadcasters in Europe and the Organization of public service broadcasters in Norway, together with the Azerbaijan Media Centre. *