OSCE media freedom office and Azerbaijan Press Council hold training on safety of journalists, access to information
Baku, OSCE, Nov 13, 2012 – Training courses for journalists, law enforcement officers and government spokespersons in Azerbaijan held by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media to promote the safety of reporters and public access to official information concluded today.
The two courses were conducted in co-operation with the Press Council of Azerbaijan and the OSCE Office in Baku, and took place on the invitation and with the financial support of the Government of Azerbaijan.
“The Government of Azerbaijan invited my Office to conduct these tailored training courses in Baku to help raise the awareness of journalists of their rights to access official information and report freely about developments and events of public importance,” said Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.
“This demonstrates the political will of the Azerbaijani authorities to improve current practices to ensure better compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. I hope that these initiatives will help bring about visible improvements in the areas of safety of journalists and access to information in the country.”
Ali Hasanov, the Head of the Social and Political Department of the Presidential Administration, and Aflatun Amashov, the Chair of the Azerbaijani Press Council, took part in the opening session along with Mijatović.
A 10 November training seminar on the safety of journalists, which was attended by some 30 participants, focused on the legal framework and reporters’ rights, interaction between journalists and the police, and on international practices with respect to reporting on public protests.
Mijatović stressed that it was of “vital importance” for law enforcement officers to receive training in order to better understand their role in facilitating press work during public events.
A course on effective interaction between government spokespersons and journalists was held on 12 and 13 November. It brought together 30 participants representing the main bodies of the government and media with the aim of enhancing professional contacts between them.
Ambassador Koray Targay, the Head of the OSCE Office in Baku, which co-organized the courses, said: “Azerbaijan has quite an advanced legal framework regulating media and guaranteeing access to information, and our training is designed to help journalists and officials in the country to strengthen the actual implementation of these laws.”
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