Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

A senior Azerbaijani official said Monday that the authorities demonstrate political will by offering to put on public discussion a libel law -- which would eliminate criminal accountability for slander.

"Certain time will be required for the society to get ready to apply this law," head of social and political affairs at the Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov, said. "Journalists are not ready to assume full responsibility for defamation in any world country."

"Azerbaijan is one of those countries and Azerbaijani journalism is not ready for the adoption of such a law," Hasanov said.

"Even if the Law on Defamation is passed, Azerbaijani journalists will face certain problems and will long wrangle in courts. The cases related to 'racketeering journalism', insults and slander in the media with regard to some individuals and the spread of all kinds of sensations to increase the print-run of publications indicate that," the Presidential Administration official said.

Hasanov stressed that the proposal to put a defamation law on public discussion is the will of Azerbaijan's government.

"Azerbaijan's political leadership wants to entitle journalists themselves to define the measure of their responsibility, to develop journalistic ethics and code of conduct, to determine on their own what is bad and what is good in the society," he said.

Hasanov said it is necessary to prepare the public and media for a bilateral relationship and for selecting a new model of such relations.

"The professional level of journalism is still low in Azerbaijan," he added. "Real professionals constitute the minority. A lot of people who are far from journalism work in media outlets."

According to the Press Council chairman Aflatun Amashov, the defamation bill was drafted after the improvement of the rules of professional ethics of journalists, and after supporting initiatives related to defamation.

The draft law on defamation was developed with the support of the OSCE Baku office in 2005. The working group that prepared the bill included MPs Ganira Pashayeva and Azay Guliyev, media representatives and lawyers.

International organizations offer to exclude from the Criminal Code the clauses that envisage criminal responsibility for libel and insults.

Six media organizations appealed to parliament to adopt a law on defamation in May 2009 -- the Association of Azerbaijani Journalists, the Najaf Najafov Foundation, the Center for Journalism and Development, the Yeni Nesil Association of Journalists, the Azerbaijani Media Center and Democratic Journalists League. Later about 400 media representatives joined the appeal.

According to the OSCE chairman Eamon Gilmore, Azerbaijan is the only country in South Caucasus which has not yet adopted such a law.