Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union
on the release of 119 prisoners in Azerbaijan
The European Union welcomes the long-awaited release of five journalists on the occasion
of Solidarity Day of World Azerbaijanis.
The presidential pardon is a positive step towards Azerbaijan's fulfilment of international
and European obligations with regard to freedom of the press.
The European Union would like to see the three journalists still imprisoned
(Mirza Sakit Zahidov, Ganimat Zahid and Eynullah Fatullayev) released or pardoned at the
earliest opportunity and would like a moratorium to be declared on proceedings for
defamation.
The European Union is convinced that such political gestures could contribute to
strengthening the partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union and would be
conducive to a more favourable political atmosphere in the run-up to the electoral
campaign.
5099/08 (Presse 8) 2
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential
candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as
the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the
Stabilisation and Association Process."