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AZERBAIJAN DAILY DIGEST
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From: Ina Iankulova (iiankulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Feb 13 2003 - 13:04:35 EST
AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT SPEAKER, COUNCIL OF EUROPE DISAGREE OVER POLITICAL PRISONERS
Members of a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) fact-finding mission met in Gobustan jail on 11 February with five men the PACE considers political prisoners, including former Defense Minister Rahim Gaziev and former Gyanja Police Chief Natig Efendiev, Turan reported on 12 February. The PACE mission then met on 12 February with parliament speaker Murtuz Alesqerov, whom they told that a member state of the Council of Europe should not have political prisoners, Turan reported. Alesqerov for his part accused the PACE of lacking objectivity by focusing on political prisoners while ignoring the human rights of displaced persons. He said that he rejects the PACE's criteria for determining who is a political prisoner and that "it is up to the courts to do decide who is a political prisoner and who is not." Alesqerov further rejected a PACE proposal to conduct a parliamentary debate on the issue of political prisoners. LF
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