Today.Az » Politics » Ali Hasanov: Freedom House's report based on subjective views
03 May 2014 [10:28] - Today.Az


Head of the Public and Political Issues Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov has criticized the Freedom House's freedom of the press report 2013, Azertag reported.

"The part of the Freedom House's report on the freedom of press in 2013 related to Azerbaijan refers to biased and controversial sources and is based on subjective views. That is why this report is not objective. The report shows that biased stereotypes on Azerbaijan and the Eurasian region were created at the organization," Hasanov said.

"Today, hundreds of media outlets including TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet resources are functioning in Azerbaijan. Both the country's legislation and existing environment totally guarantee free operations of the media. Developing freedom of speech and press, upgrading facilities at media outlets, improving social security of journalists, solving problems of media are priorities of the state policy. The Freedom House does not earn respect by paying no heed to the favorable environment, deliberate exaggeration of some minor cases that may occur in the country and distortion of the real situation. All these facts prove that the methodology used by Freedom House has shortcomings, it is subjective, does not reflect the reality and serve some interests."

"As for as the allegations regarding the internet situation, we can say that information and communication technologies are one of the most rapidly developing sectors of Azerbaijani economy," Hasanov stressed. "Hundreds of websites, portals, etc. exist in Azerbaijan. Some 70 percent of the Azerbaijani population is internet users, and the number of social networks users nears two million."

"The number of Facebook users alone makes up 1.2 million. This fact clearly indicates that the Internet is totally free in Azerbaijan and there are no restrictions imposed in this sphere. As for the 'control' over journalists' internet correspondence and telephone talks and other such allegations, we can state that there are some other rich 'practices' known in the world," he added.

"The citizens of Azerbaijan benefit from democratic values, including human rights, media freedom rather than these 'practices' used in some great powers. Therefore, instead of 'looking for a black cat in a dark room', Freedom House would better investigate these issues and bring real results. This could probably improve its image," Hasanov added.


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