Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 July/ Trend , corr E. Babayev/ The TV channels and a group of newspapers in Azerbaijan will be monitored prior to the presidential elections. "The program of 7 TV channels, ANS, AzTV, Public TV, Lider, Space and Khazar TV channels, which are broadcasted from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and all articles published in 6 daily papers including Azadlig, Azerbaijan, Yeni Musavat, Khalg Gazeti, Zarkalo and 525-ji gazet will be monitored," Arif Aliyev, chairman of Yeni Nasil union of journalists said in a press conference on 18 July.
The presidential election in Azerbaijan will be held on 15 October 2008. The monitoring is carried out within the joint program of Council of Europe and European Commission Free and Fair Elections.
According to Aliyev, the first decade of monitoring revealed that the variety was on the low level while highlighting the activities of the politicians. The first stage of monitoring revealed no criticism against any of the presidential candidates
The head of the project and expert of the Council of Europe David Ward said that the monitoring over TV channels and papers will be carried out in two stages.
The monitoring over the election campaign began on 6 July 2008 and it will last till mid-September. The next stage will last till 15 October. The access of different political organizations, candidates from the opposition and government to the information channels, the ability of media to meet these standards and keeping unprejudiced and impartial will be assessed by the monitoring.
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