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Council of Europe Secretary General issues statement on imprisonment of Azerbaijani bloggers

12 November 2009 13:32 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg â€“ APA. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland issued a statement on sentences imposed by the court on Adnan Hajizadeh and Emin Milli. APA European bureau reports that the Secretary General said this sequence of events will have an evitable chilling effect on the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan. â€œThe authorities should very critically review their attitude towards media and civil society and public criticism in general, and bring it in line with their obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and a party of the European Convention on Human Rights. The freedom of expression is a vital precondition of democracy. Without it there is no freedom, no creativity, no good ideas, no good solutions and no social progress. What is at stake is not only the freedom of Adnan and Emin, but the freedom and wellbeing of all people in Azerbaijanâ€.