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European Broadcasting Union reviews Azerbaijanâ€™s case

17 September 2009 14:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova â€“ APA. The EBU committee responsible for running the Eurovision Song Contest, the so-called Reference Group, discussed the issues related to Eurovision 2010 in Oslo and examined the matter of interrogations of people that voted for Armenia at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest at a meeting in Oslo on 11 September 2009. The Group decided to amend the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest to hold the participating broadcaster strictly liable for any disclosure of information which could be used to identify voters. The new rule aims to ensure that votersâ€™ privacy is respected, and if it is not the EBU will be in a position to impose appropriate sanctions on the offending broadcaster. The regulations governing the previous editions of the Eurovision Song Contest imposed an obligation on the telecom companies involved in the televoting to respect the privacy of the voters.
EBU investigated the matter of interrogations of voters for Armenian song at the Eurovision 2009. Some foreign and local media reports that Azerbaijan could be banned from the competition for three years. EBUâ€™s decision denied those reports and dispersed doubts about Azerbaijanâ€™s participation at the Eurovision 2010. Azerbaijan is developing preparation process and selection of the participant for the contest.