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PACE co-rapporteurs hold press conference in Baku

02 February 2012 18:24 (UTC +04:00)

According to APA, co-rapporteurs gave information about the meeting held in Baku.

"In the matter of compliance with obligations of Azerbaijan to the PACE progress is being made, the Azerbaijani government is moving in the right direction in this matter" Pedro Agramunt said.

During his visit from January 31 to February 2, co-rapporteurs met with Speaker of the Milli Majlis, the political parties represented in the Parliament of Azerbaijan, the Ombudsman, the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, the Minister of Justice, the deputy head of the Supreme Court, visited the camp of refugees and IDPâ€™s in Baku.

The co-rapporteurs with the permission of the Ministry of Justice visited the two prisoners in the events of April 2.

During the visit, Agramunt P. and D. Debono Grech discussed the amendments to the bill on political parties in Azerbaijan, NGO bill, draft law on alternative military service, issues of freedom of assembly and freedom of conscience, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The co-rapporteurs expressed their "strong hope that the prisoners in connection with prisoners April 2 will be released as soon as possible in accordance with the procedures of local law." Commenting on the issue of journalists about whether they consider their "political prisoners", P. Agramunt said: "I’m not so sure, not for us to judge. But if a person goes to show coaches and breaks, glass shops, it is no longer a peaceful demonstration. "

The co-rapporteurs "expressed their concern over the incident at the contact line," noting that "while people are dying, this conflict can not be considered frozen." They noted that the victims of the conflict are more than a million refugees and internally displaced persons.

The co-rapporteurs noted importance "improving the political atmosphere of political pluralism in order to conduct free and fair elections" in the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan next year.

On the issue of demolition of buildings in Baku, the co-rapporteurs "urged the Azerbaijani authorities for more transparency in this process and just compensation."

P. Agramunt said that the co-rapporteurs will report on this visit in the course of the next meeting of the PACE Monitoring Committee in Paris in March, and a full report on Azerbaijan’s fulfillment of its obligations to the PACE will be presented during this year.