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Samad Seyidov: PACE decision should be assessed as another double standards attitude to Azerbaijan (UPDATE)

Politics Materials 16 May 2018 20:54 (UTC +04:00)
The decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should be assessed as another double standard attitude towards Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee for International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said.

Details added (first version posted on 16:46)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16

By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:

The decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should be assessed as another double standard attitude towards Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee for International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Head of the Azerbaijani Delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said in Baku May 16.

He was commenting on the decision of the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure to impose sanctions on four PACE members.

Seyidov said Azerbaijan has constructive cooperation with various structures of the Council of Europe.

“But it doesn’t mean that there are no double standards towards Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe,” he added. "We have witnessed this repeatedly. The decision made yesterday must be seen as another double standards attitude."

In his letter to the Council of Europe's leadership, Seyidov said there is no reason for taking such actions against Azerbaijan.

He also noted the biased attitude towards Azerbaijan and regarded the decision as an aid to anti-Azerbaijan forces.

Seyidov added that such actions are connected with the establishment of a special investigation body in PACE.

"We expressed our opinion in connection with the establishment of this investigation body and said that one of the highest principles of the PACE is the rule of law," he said. “One cannot blame anyone without conducting a legal procedure.”

“Most adopted documents on Azerbaijan are negative, while documents on Armenia are positive,” he said.

Seyidov expressed surprise at the fact that there are positive responses towards Armenia, although there are such events in Armenia when people get rid of the regime.

"A UK parliamentarian said it is wrong to include Azerbaijan in this report because if there is no investigation in other countries, it is unfair to include Azerbaijan there,” he said. “Nevertheless, the parliamentarian's proposal was not adopted."

Following the hearings in Paris on May 15, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure decided that sanctions should apply to four PACE members - Pedro Agramunt (Spain) for a period of 10 years, Cezar Florin Preda (Romania), Samad Seyidov (Azerbaijan) and Jordi Xuclà (Spain) for a period of two years.

All four, while remaining members of the Assembly with the right to speak, will be banned during these periods from acting as rapporteurs or election observers, and cannot be chairs or vice-chairs of any committees or sub-committees, or stand for election as president of the Assembly.

They will be unable to represent the Assembly or its committees at any third-party events.

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