The Press Council of Azerbaijan has called on leading global journalistic communities and human rights organizations to strongly condemn France's attempts to restrict the activities of Aygun Hasanova, a reporter for the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC).
According to a statement by the Council, the incident in which attempts were made to prevent Hasanova from participating in a seminar in Bonn, Germany and entering the Schengen zone was orchestrated by France. The Council emphasized that this is nothing short of a violation of legal norms and a restriction on freedom of speech and expression.
The Council's position is that attempting to apply such a political approach to a journalist in the heart of Europe is highly likely to set a negative precedent, the statement says stressing the need to form resistance to prevent similar cases from recurring.
The statement also stressed that France's approach is political, biased, and does not fit within the framework of not only the law but also ethical norms.
"This is an intolerable attitude of the country towards media values and freedom of speech. France should take into account that attempting to restrict journalistic activity at the same time negates the principle of democracy and universal human values. Unfortunately, the authorities of this country do not think about this," the Council noted.