Council of Europe to prepare criteria for political prisoner term
21 May 2012
At a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on Monday appeals on the separate consideration of the reports on “Reconsideration of the issue of political prisoners” were discussed, a member of Azerbaijani delegation to the structure, MP Elkhan Suleymanov, told Trend on Monday.
He said that during the discussions the appeal was supported, calling to demonstrate objectivity in relation to this matter, as well as the separate consideration of the reports on the monitoring of political prisoners by committee members in order to achieve real progress in addressing the issue and the definition of “political prisoner” term.
Suleymanov assessed adoption of this decision in the European space, which brings together the Council of Europe member states, as a step towards respect for European values and the rule of law.
Bringing clarity to the issue of preparing a report on Azerbaijan by Strasser, the MP said that in accordance with this decision of the Committee of the Council of Europe, firstly, criteria of “political prisoner” term must be prepared and a resolution should be adopted at the plenary session.
“Only after that it will be possible to make observations on the existence of political prisoners in the member countries of the structure. Therefore, today’s decision by the Committee on Legal Affairs can be evaluated as a new page in the history of the Council of Europe,” he said.
