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Draft law on annexes and amendments to draft law on â€œFreedom of Assemblyâ€ recommended for consideration of Parliament

15 May 2008 12:15 (UTC +04:00)

Chairwoman of the Commission Rabiyyat Aslanova said the law adopted in 1998 was protected by the international legal acts, APA reports.
Azerbaijani member of the Council of Europe Venice Commission Latif Huseynov said three meetings had been held with the international organizations on annexes and amendments to the document. The Venice Commission made its last opinion on the document in December 2007, said Huseynov and noted that they had taken the principles of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights into consideration as well. â€œVenice Commission said in its last opinion that if the draft law was adopted in this form, it would meet the European standardsâ€. Huseynov said the annexes and amendments to be made to a number of articles of the document were of technical character. â€œAccording to the annexes and amendments, freedom of assembly is carried out not on the permission, but by the warning. The document recognizes freedom of assembly before the private property. Freedom of assembly can be restricted in the wedding and funeral ceremonies. There is no age limit for freedom of assembly. Non-citizens and foreigners also have a freedom of assemblyâ€. Huseynov said ban of meetings was dropped from the draft law. â€œFreedom of Assembly can be banned only on the eve of preparations for the international events. A right of citizens to hold contra-meetings is also recognized. Holding assembly in front of any object diminishes from 300 meter to 200 meter. Freedom of assembly in temples and cemeteries is not bannedâ€, he said.
To him, period of appeals has been prolonged date of freedom of assembly is not banned.
â€œForces by policeman should be adequate with danger. Participants of assembly, who violate the law, should be held accountableâ€, he said.
MPs expressed their anxiety about amendments made to several Articles during discussions. Fazail Agamali noted that it was unacceptable to permit foreigners and citizens out of citizenship for freedom of assembly. Fazil Gazanfaroglu estimated freedom of assembly in front of special properties negatively. Ilyas Ismayilov taking into account of separation of religion from state noted that he was against to hold actions in temples. Gudrat Hasanguliyev added that he estimated holding actions outside of the city as limitation of freedom of assembly.
â€œIf cultural events are held in the centre of the city, other motivated actions should be heldâ€, he said.
After discussions the document has been submitted to the Parliament for consideration.