European Broadcasting Union to examine issue of Baku interrogations

European Broadcasting Union to examine issue of interrogation of
Azerbaijani citizens that voted for Armenian song in Eurovision 2009

2009-08-29 11:07:00

ArmInfo. The EBU committee responsible for running the Eurovision Song
Contest, the so-called Reference Group, will examine the matter of
interrogation of Azerbaijani citizens that voted for the Armenian song
in Eurovision 2009 Song Contest at a meeting in Oslo on 11 September
2009, APA reports quoting the contest’s official website.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said it has received responses
from Azerbaijan that the Ministry of National Security had given
assurances that nobody had been questioned on voting in the
competition. The EBU’s Director General, Jean Reveillon, 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.