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Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg plans to visit Azerbaijan this year

29 April 2009 16:17 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli â€“ APA. â€œI did not have an opportunity to visit Azerbaijan after my recent visit. I hope I will be able to visit Azerbaijan in 2009,â€ Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said at the press conference in Strasbourg, APAâ€™s Europe bureau reports. Touching on the state of human rights in Azerbaijan, Thomas Hammarberg said he had included Azerbaijan-related issues into the initial assessment report prepared in 2008.
â€œDuring my next visit I will of course raise issues on the state of freedom of expression and media. These issues are of great importance for us. I am following the process in Azerbaijan though from afar and note the recent improvements in the field of human rights. Two or three journalists are still in prison and anyway this is not good,â€ he said.
Thomas Hammarbergâ€™s annual report for 2008 will be discussed on the last day of PACE spring session.