Danish broadcasters may boycott Azeri Eurovision over human rights violation

PanARMENIAN.Net - The newly elected president of the Danish OGAE (General Organization of the fans of Eurovision) fanclub has sent out a press release suggesting that DR and other broadcasters simply boycott the coming 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest due to a human right issue in relation to the building of the new arena. EBU denies that it is related.

In Azerbaijan they are working on building a new arena that can host the Eurovision Song Contest in May, but if this project is not to be further delayed 65 houses needs to be taken down and the ground cleared. Before that can be done the 300 people living in them need to leave their houses - and that is where a new problem arises. If people do not move voluntarily before New Year's Eve they will be physically thrown out - but there is no place for them to go.

The Azeri government have not yet offered an actual compensation, but each family are likely to be able to receive an amount equal to less than half the market value, which in most cases will mean that they are forced to leave a larger apartment in the center of Baku and find a much smaller one on the edge to the city.

President of OGAE Denmark, the Danish branch of the international Eurovision fanclub, Johann Sorensen is so unsatisfied with this that he has sent out a press release suggesting the broadcasters to boycott the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. He says that "if the authorities in Azerbaijan can’t respect the human rights and offer a proper compensation then EBU should find another country to host the contest. If EBU can't get Azerbaijan to stick to the human rights and allows Azerbaijan to host the contest then I do believe that Denmark should boycott the competition," EuroVisionary reported.