Azerbaijan, Baku, 30 March / corr. Trend G. Jabiyev/ The ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party (New Azerbaijan) ( YAP) has called on a group of journalists to end hunger strike. "There are a number of ways of commuting the sentence of those tried by the court. I think that no one can be exempted from serving their sentences by calling the attention of the public through hunger strike," Mubariz Gurbanli, the Deputy Executive Secretary of YAP said to Trend .
It is already 3 days that a group of journalists went on a hunger strike in the editorial office of Musavat (Uquality) Party in a support of Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realniy Azerbaijan.
The chief editor of Gundelik Azerbaijan newspaper, Shahveled Chobanoglu, editor-in-chief of Yeni Musavat newspaper, Zahid Safaroglu and journalist of the newspaper, Elshan Balakhanli, are on a hunger strike to support the editor-in-chief of Gundelik Azerbaijan and Realni Azerbaijan newspaper, Eynulla Fatullayev. Natig Javadli, the employee of Bizim Yol (Our Road) newspaper is expected to join the strike today.
Imprisoned Fatullayav wen on a hunger strike on 26 March. The editor-in-chief demands objective consideration of his case, release of arrested journalists and application of concrete protection mechanisms of the Council of Europe and OSCE.
Gurbanli said that the commuting of the punishment is the prerogative of the court. The prisoners can be pardoned only by the decision of the parliament and presidential decree on amnesty.
YAP was established in 1992 in Nakhchivan by the deceased president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. At present the party who is in power for already 14 years is being led by Ilham Aliyev, the current president of Azerbaijan.