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Samad Seyidov: The problem of political prisoners is artificially exaggerated to damage Azerbaijanâ€™s image

24 April 2007 16:05 (UTC +04:00)

Samad Seyidov, head of the delegation said the report on honoring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan was debated at the PACE session.
He said the report normally analyzed the processes ongoing in Azerbaijan. He, however, noted there were some critical momentums in the report, which he sees no need to worry about.
Mr.Seyidov also said the delegation members expressed position on some momentums in the report which he said are not true in fact.
The delegation head stressed that the report affirmed Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory. But, Armenian delegation made considerable efforts to change this point.
â€œBut Azerbaijani delegation prevented this. It means that 46 out of 47 member states support Azerbaijanâ€™s position,â€ he said.
Seyidov noted that Azerbaijan has honored the majority of the obligations.
Commenting on co-rapporteur Andres Herkelâ€™s statement on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Seyidov said the co-raaporteurâ€™s opinion should not be regarded as the position of the Council of Europe.
â€œThe problem of political prisoners is deliberately exaggerated to damage Azerbaijanâ€™s image. It can not concern Azerbaijan,â€ he said.
Member of the delegation Ali Huseynov considers that the names of persons about whom investigation is being carried out, should not be included into the report.
â€œI consider that this biased tendency should be removed in the following processes,â€ he said.
Gultekin Hajiyeva said that only three political prisoners were mentioned in the documents of the Council of Europe â€“ Elchin Amiraslanov, Arif Kazimov and Safa Poladov. /APA/