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Council of Europe Rapporteur Says Azerbaijan Refusing To Grant Him Entry Visa

January 18, 2011

BAKU -- A Council of Europe rapporteur for Azerbaijan says Baku is refusing to issue him a visa, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Christoph Straesser, a German parliament member, told RFE/RL that he has applied for a visa several times since last May, most recently with the intention of traveling there in February.

Straesser serves as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

He said he raised the issue with Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, and it will be discussed by the PACE Legal Affairs Committee on January 24.

Baku allowed Straesser to visit in November, when he was part of a PACE mission observing the parliamentary elections.

But he said he has not been able to secure a visa for his rapporteur work, a problem he first mentioned to RFE/RL in November.

Seyidov told RFE/RL at the time that Azerbaijani officials are not blocking a visit by Straesser.

But Seyidov added that international organizations should abandon their double standards with regard to Azerbaijan. "Show me [another] country where PACE has appointed a special rapporteur on political prisoners," he said.

Azerbaijani authorities deny they are holding any political prisoners. They say the people identified as political prisoners by local human rights defenders and international watchdogs were sentenced for committing criminal offenses.

Straesser told RFE/RL that Azerbaijani officials have told him when he applies for a visa that his visit does not pose a problem, but then the visa is never issued and he does not receive an official explanation for the refusal.

He warned the Azerbaijani government that if he is again refused a visa he will complete his report for PACE, and suggested it will not reflect well on Azerbaijan.

"It will be an unusual report -- the first report compiled by a rapporteur [who has not visited] the target country" in that capacity, he said.

Straesser said he could also ask PACE to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan, possibly in the form of barring Baku from voting at some PACE sessions.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_pace_entry_visa/2280064.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.