Azerbaijani Press Council urges condemnation of France's actions against journalist

The Azerbaijani Press Council has called on the world's leading journalistic communities and organizations involved in the protection of human rights and freedoms to strongly condemn France's attempts to restrict the activities of Aygun Hasanova, an employee of the Azerbaijani State News Agency (Azartac), Caliber.Az reports, citing a statement by the council.

The incident involved an attempt to prevent Azartac correspondent Aygun Hasanova from participating in a seminar in Bonn, Germany, and entering the Schengen zone, which was allegedly ordered by France. The council emphasized that this act constitutes a violation of legal norms and a restriction on freedom of speech and expression.

"The council's position is that an attempt to take such a political approach to a journalist in the center of Europe is very likely to set a negative precedent. It is therefore necessary to build resistance to prevent such cases from happening again," the statement reads.

The statement also emphasizes that France's approach is political, biased, and does not align with the law or ethical norms.

"This is an intolerant attitude of the country towards media values and freedom of speech. France should take into account that the attempt to restrict journalistic activity at the same time nullifies the principle of democracy and human values. Unfortunately, the authorities of this country do not think about this."