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Collective of â€œNota-Beneâ€? newspaper hold press conference on arrest of correspondent of newspaper

31 January 2007 17:07 (UTC +04:00)

The collective â€œNota-Beneâ€? newspaper held press conference on the correspondent of newspaper Faramaz Novruzogluâ€™s arrest, APA reports. The founder of the newspaper Ilham Tumas noted that on the decision of Narimanov Courtâ€™s judge Muslum Aliyev the correspondent of the newspaper Faramaz Novruzoglu got two years sentence in jail, the editor-in-chief Sardar Alibeyli 1 year 6 months suspended imprisonment, who were accused on the claims of Interior Ministry Ramil Usubov and the chief of State Committee on Work with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad (SCWALA) Nazim Ibrahimov. The criminal case launched against Tumas was put an end.
Tumas stated that they have met with Nazim Ibrahimov on the issue. After the meeting, though Ibrahimov said that he will take his appeal back, it did not happen. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper Sardar Alibeyli demanded to change courtâ€™s decision. The representative of Press Council Ibrahim Mammadli said it could be possible to solve the problem, if Novruzoglu appealed to council before his arrest.
â€œPress Council will discuss this issue and will make efforts to release the journalist,â€? he said.
Interior Ministry press service told the APA that the case was considered in the frame of law and the decision is just.
The SCWALA did not comment on the issue.
The OSCE Office in Baku and the Organizationâ€™s Representative on Freedom of the Media expressed profound concern today over new instances of imprisonment of journalists in Azerbaijan.
"Such a severe response will do nothing to enhance the professionalism of journalists, but will surely serve to promote the canker of self-censorship", said Robin Seaword, Acting Head of the OSCE Office in Baku.
Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, added: "I am sad to hear the news of the continuing criminalization of journalists work in Azerbaijan. Never has criminal disciplining of journalists resulted in higher professionalism, but it always stifles the freedom of debate in society. Besides, this practice is also against international standards." /APA/