EUROVISION TO ANNOUNCE DECISION ON AZERBAIJAN INVESTIGATION

Asbarez
/09/14/eurovision-to-announce-decision-on-azerbaij an-investigation/
Sep 14, 2009

OSLO (RFE/RL)- Eurovision has concluded an investigation into charges
that Azerbaijani officials harassed people who voted for the Armenian
entry in May’s Eurovision Song Content and will soon decide whether
to sanction Azerbaijan, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reports.

Svante Stockselius, the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song
Contest, told RFE/RL on Friday that Eurovision’s Reference Group –
which consists of eight members – has met in Oslo and made a decision
regarding Azerbaijan.

The decision will be sent to the European Broadcasting Union’s
Television Committee, which will announce its decision on Azerbaijan
in the coming days.

Stockselius said Azerbaijan could be cleared of the charges or it
could be found to have violated Eurovision rules and either fined or
banned from participating in the contest for up to three years.

The Reference Group is made up of delegates from Russia, Serbia,
and Norway – the last three winners of the Eurovision contest –
along with Spain, Holland, Ireland, and two members from Sweden.

Rovshan Nasirli, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, was called to Azerbaijan’s
National Security Ministry on August 12 to explain why he voted for
an Armenian song in the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in
Moscow in May.

The officials told Nasirli that his vote for Armenia was a matter
of national security, and asked him for a written explanation before
releasing him.

He said the ministry had a list of a few dozen other Azerbaijanis
who voted for the Armenian entry by sending a text message from their
mobile phones.