17:14, 20 December 2003

PACE to debate about problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan at January session

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will debate about the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan during its session on 27 January and will made a corresponding decision after it, the Zerkalo newspaper published in Baku reports, referring to head of the Azerbaijan Delegation to the PACE Samed Seidov. Azerbaijan human rights organizations keep on asserting that the problem of political prisoners is still one of the most critical in the country. Despite the fact that the Azerbaijan leadership unambiguously deny the presence of political prisoners in the county, the international community, particularly the Council of Europe, view this matter from a diametrically opposite prospective. The Azerbaijan authorities will have either to settle this problem or do nothing more than take half measures as before, like granting a pardon to some dozens of people, which will hardly pleasure the international community in the person of the Council of Europe.

Source: PanARMENIAN Network News Server