Azerbaijan to debate bill on 'Defamation'

"This process should finish by the time the bill will be put on parliament's agenda," Amashov said.

The draft law on defamation was prepared with the support of the OSCE Baku Office in 2005. The working group designing the bill includes MPs Ganira Pashayeva and Azay Guliyev, representatives of journalist organizations and law scientists.

International organizations believe that Article 147 (defamation) and 148 (insult), which proposes criminal responsibility, should be removed from the country's Criminal Code.

Amashov said the bill on 'Defamation' was discussed at the event held in the Council of Europe (CE). "Regarding that we are part of Europe, it is necessary to adopt this law," said the chairman of the board.

Despite this, Amashov noted it is impossible to divulge a specific date for the discussions of the bill.

"At present the research is underway to reveal how the media and the public, mostly officials follow the requirements of the law on 'Defamation'. The general opinion is that this law is inevitable for Azerbaijan," said Amashov.

He said some measures should be taken before discussing this bill. "Before discussing this bill, a dialogue should be held between officials and journalists, as well as between journalists and the public," said Amashov.

/Trend News/