Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Secretary General of the Council of Europe ThorbjÃ¸rn Jagland issues statement on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan

05 October 2011 15:18 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli â€“ APA "Without the freedom of expression and the freedom of association there is no democracy. This is why I am deeply concerned at the sentences handed down on 3 October to Arif Hadjili, Mahamat Majidli, Tural Abbasli and Fuad Gahramanli on charges of conspiracy to violate public order for planning and organizing anti-government protests on 2 April in Bakuâ€, Secretary General of the Council of Europe ThorbjÃ¸rn Jagland said, APA reports.

Secretary General said such worrying trends must be placed alongside the increasingly difficult environment in which legal professionals are constrained to work. â€œI would encourage the authorities to ensure that lawyers, and particularly those acting in defense of opposition figures, are allowed to practice their profession without prejudice, and without consequence to their status, in full respect of the Rule of Lawâ€.

Jagland said that the Council of Europe remains ready to work closely with the authorities in Azerbaijan to bring both the country’s legislation and its administrative and judicial practices to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly those concerning freedom of expression and of assembly, to the level that its citizens can legitimately expect.