In an interview to “APA,” Presidential Administration socio-political department head Ali Hasanov spoke about Azerbaijan’s press.
In response to a question about how he assesses Azerbaijan’s press, Hasanov noted that, the press condition of Azerbaijan was normal: “We think that that press does not face with any serious problem; the mass media has never been impeded in any case and no pressure has been used against the press in our country. Only “Realniy Azerbaijan” Newspaper stopped its publication, and we gave enough information about this.” A.Hasanov, expressing his opinion about the imprisonment of journalists, said, “We assess the court hearings between journalists and different people normally: If everybody defends his/her rights only through courts, they can file a lawsuit against the journalists who violate their rights. And it is a normal process. We regret the imprisonment of some of the journalists as a result of these court hearings”.
Then Ali Hasanov spoke about the future situation of the media in 2008. “Azerbaijan’s press operates under completely democratic conditions. And our media will have the opportunity to operate under such condition this year too. Media organizations that follow the law contribute to the tendency of improvement in society and modern journalism demands. They will succeed, as usual.