Azerbaijan continues the investigation for Eurovision votes
armradio.am
29.08.2009 16:43
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has received responses from
Azerbaijan regarding allegations that telephone voters in Azerbaijan
who voted for the Armenian song in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest
were interrogated by security police.
Ictimai, the EBU’s Azeri Member which broadcast this year’s Song
Contest from Moscow in May, has confirmed its commitment to free and
fair voting. While two individuals had been invited to the Ministry of
National Security, Ictimai said, the Ministry of National Security had
given assurances that nobody had been questioned, either officially or
unofficially, on voting in the competition itself.
The EBU’s Director General, Jean Réveillon, said he took note of the
statements. However, he stressed that the freedom to vote for any song
except the one of the country where you are watching is one of the
cornerstones of the contest. `Any breach of privacy regarding voting,
or interrogation of individuals, is totally unacceptable,’ he added.
The EBU committee responsible for running the Song Contest will examine
the matter at a meeting in Oslo on 11 September 2009.
Earlier in the Azeri press released information that the Ministry of
National Security of Azerbaijan called for questioning 43 people who
voted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 for the Armenian singers20Inga
and Anush Arshakyan. Azerbaijani officials have denied this fact.