CE "EXTREMELY CONCERNED" OVER FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net - Council of Europe (CE) secretary general Walter Schwimmer and OSCE representative on freedom of the media Freimut Duve have expressed "extreme concern over the pressure put upon mass media and intimidating journalists in Azerbaijan." As reported by "Mediamax" agency, one of the causes of such a statement by the CE was bringing a suit against "Eni Musavat" newspaper in Baku and freezing bank accounts of the newspaper. The statement authors are especially concerned with the fact that such practice against mass media takes place on the eve of the presidential election in Azerbaijan. "We hope that the Azeri authorities will undertake all necessary steps to guarantee freedom of speech in compliance with international norms, specifically, the 10-th article of the European Convention on Human Rights," - W. Schwimmer and F. Duve stated. They also expressed "extreme concern" over the attack against journalists next to Baku police building September 8, which resulted in wounding 10 people. They called Azeri authorities to hold an investigation of the incident in the shortest possible space of time and inform the OSCE and the Council of Europe on the results.