BAKU RAPS US, NORWEGIAN EMBASSIES

Assa-Irada
March 11 2008
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani government has come out against the critical response
of the US and Norwegian embassies to the jailsentence of a newspaper
editor handed down on Friday. The editor-in-chief of opposition daily
Azadlig Ganimat Zahid was sentenced to four years in prison by a Baku
district court. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Khazar Ibrahim said
thestrongly-worded statements issued by the diplomatic missions
clearly indicated a double standard approach from theviewpoint
of foreign policy. It is disappointing that the US and Norwegian
embassies issue such statements, thespokesman told a press conference
Tuesday. We witnessed a mild and inadequate position of those states
to thedevelopments in neighboring Armenia. In this case, we do not
understand and are disappointed with such a terse reaction to the
developments that took place in Azerbaijan. We hope this wont happen
again. Zahid was arrested in November 2007on charges of hooliganism.

The apprehension was caused by an incident on November 7 outside
his editorial office.Zahids argument with two persons had resulted
in a fist fight. The Norwegian embassy said in a statement that
thejournalist had been convicted for an incident ostensibly unrelated
to his work and that the trial had failed tosubstantiate the charges
brought against him. The embassy expressed concern about the signals
such a verdict sends tothe free press and encouraged the authorities
to take every possible step to ensure Zahid’s quick release. The US
embassy spokesman Johnatan Henick said the United States was concerned
over the journalist’s sentence and thepotential irregularities
committed during his trial. He said it was pivotal that journalists
abide by the law, but usingcriminal charges to stifle their voices
was a hurdle to human rights protection and democratic development.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress