ARTICLE 19 expressed its concern in regard with delay of adoption of law on "On Obtaining Information"

According to the information given to APA from ARTICLE 19, the authors of the letter expressed their concern in regard with the delay of adoption of law on freedom of information.They stated that, the Parliamentary Working Group has reached a commendable progress in improving the official draft. The current text incorporates most of the recommendations made by international organizations (including Council of Europe and ARTICLE 19), including some of the key freedom of information principles.

However, stating that the parlaiment delays the adoption of this law, the authors of the letter expressed their concern over bringing  the law to standstill again:" We are not convinced that the Milli Mejlis has a sincere commitment to adopting this law in 2005" .Stating that ,the upcoming Azerbaijani Parliamentary elections make it indispensable to adopt the access to information law: free and fair elections are not possible if the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas is not guaranteed and upheld."

We are therefore urging the Members of the Milli Mejlis to join more than 50 countries worldwide that have declared their commitment to international standards on freedom of information and to adopt a law guaranteeing freedom of information in the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to ensure transparency  of campaign period, provide voters with necessary information to make informed choices, build public trust in elections administration and create an environment for adequate coverage of elections by the media. The authors of the letter offered their support to implementation of the freedom of information law.