June 23, 2003 - 21:40 AMT
AZERI PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS ACCUSED PACE OF DISCRIMINATION TOWARD THEIR COUNTRY
In connection with the coming discussion in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) of the issue on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, a group of governmentally oriented public organizations of the country appealed with a letter to the CE Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, PACE delegates as well as to Assembly legal commission member Jorge Clearfight. A deep anxiety regarding sanctions on the occasion of the political prisoners' problem to be possibly applied by PACE toward Azerbaijan is expressed in the appeal. At the same time the "discriminative attitude" to Azerbaijan is emphasized in the letter, though "analogous difficulties are as well available in other South Caucasian countries". Due to the authors of the letter, it can negatively reflect at the attitude of the Azeri people to the Council of Europe.