The OSCE’s special representative for the Media, Miklos Haraszti, said in Vienna today he had written to Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, expressing his concern about the severity of the sentence.
He recalled that a year ago Aliyev proposed a moratorium on the use of criminal defamation against the media. That followed the murder of prominent journalist, Elmar Husseynov.
Haraszti said the president should now push for permanent reform of the libel law.
RFE/RL Central Asia Report
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