Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr.I.Aliszadeh / Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are considering the incompetent statement made on behalf of the Commission on Juridical Issues and Human Rights regarding the state of the press in Azerbaijan.
"The PACE Commission may make such statements after the organization have held a meeting and passed a document. But no meeting has been held. Therefore, no-one can make such a statement on behalf of the Commission," stated a member of Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE and member of the Political Council of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Aydin Mirzazadeh .
A statement by the Commission on the state of the press in Azerbaijan was placed on the website on 14 December. The statement stated that journalists in Azerbaijan are occasionally persecuted and the Commission condemned the pressure against the press.
Currently, nine journalists are detained in Azerbaijan for slander. "Any member of the Commission may make such a statement, however it cannot be considered as a document which reflects the position of the PACE Commission," Mirzazadeh added.
Twenty MPs represent Azerbaijan in PACE.