Baku held talks on the decriminalization of defamation today, organized by the OSCE office in Baku and the Press Council of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
The Press Council is aimed at increasing pluralism of media, improvement of journalism activity, media involvement in socio-political processes, head of the socio-political section of the Azerbaijani presidential administration Ali Gasanov said.
Gasanov said that there was an illusion of all media problems solved in 1998. Removal of censorship increased confrontation between the journalists and citizens. The law on defamation would be a great responsibility. Journalists need a moral code. Criteria of journalists need to be determined by the Press Council, he believes.
Head of the OSCE office in Baku Ali Bilge Jankorel said that freedom of press is a basic principles of the OSCE. A law on defamation, meeting international standards, has already been developed.
Special OSCE representative for freedom of press Dunya Miyatovich said that the officials need to give opportunities for development of a civil society. Politicians need to express tolerance. There should be no crime responsibility for publications of journalists. Not a single journalist in Azerbaijan has been jailed, the representative said.
