Statement of the Azerbaijani Press Council
The hotline of the Press Council of Azerbaijan has received 4 appeals from journalists covering the snap parliamentary elections from 8am to 2pm. Out of all the appeals, three are related to the 3rd, 5th and 20th polling stations of the 57th Kurdemir election constituency, whereas one appeal is from the 15th polling station of the 47th Mingachevir election constituency. Those who have made appeals include Murad Musayev ('7news' website), Rumiyye Miraslan ('ayna.az' website), Mirjelal Majidov ('femadia'az website) and Konul Aypara ('mediapress.az' website). As to all of the four cases, the Central Election Commission has been contacted and the issues have been dealt with accordingly. The whole purpose of the 'hotline' operating under the auspices of the Press Council is to ensure that journalists are able to fulfill their functions in relation to covering the parliamentary elections as well as to make sure that any problem that may emerge is effectively dealt with. Those who desire to contact the hotline may do so via (012) 441 35 96 and (050) 206 96 02 (mob) from 8am to 7 pm on the election day. In addition, the Press Council is monitoring the professional coverage of the parliamentary elections by Mass Media. With this purpose in mind, the members of the Board of the Press Council are directly observing the elections in regions and in Baku. They have so far noticed no irregularity and are of the opinion that the conditions, under which journalists are operating, are of satisfactory nature.
