26 April 2012, 20:00
An observer from the Council of Europe gave up his attempts to visit Azerbaijan
Observer from the Council of Europe Christopher Shtresser declared that he would no longer try to get Azerbaijani visa after he was refused its issue in Baku once again.
Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" reported that in October, 2011, reporter of PACE on political prisoners Christopher Shtresser had to cancel his scheduled visit to Azerbaijan because he did not receive the visa.
The diplomat said that he was invited to Baku at the end of this March, however only to participate in a conference on defining the term "political prisoner" which seemed unacceptable to him.
Shtresser considers that he must deliver a report on this issue. According to him, obstacles of this kind in the work of a representative on the Council of Europe are an "extremely rare phenomenon". He pointed out that the Government of Azerbaijan "may sabotage" his work, "BBC Russian Service" reports.
Samed Seidov, Head of Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, disagrees with Shtresser's arguments.
"Azerbaijan is an open and democratic country. Anyone can come here but if one arrives as a reporter one should have a respective mandate. The question of political prisoners in Azerbaijan was removed from the agenda in the Council of Europe. The concept of a political prisoner in Europe on the whole is under discussion. A reporter can come to Azerbaijan with such a mandate only", "Contact online news" quotes Samed Seidov.
