Azerbaijan, Baku / corr E.Huseynli / There is freedom of press and speech in Azerbaijan.
"Journalists who were arrested in Azerbaijan have committed definite crimes and were made answerable for their crimes," Ramiz Mehdiyev, the head-of-staff of the President's Executive Power, said on 20 November. Mehdiyev said that the journalists were not arrested for journalistic activities.
Nine journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan. International organizations condemned the convictions of the journalists as pressure on freedom of speech and press in the country.
Regarding the release of the detained journalists this is the President's prerogative, Mehdiyev said that the pardoning of the journalists would be considered at the appropriate time and this problem would be resolved
