Statement of Working Group 1 on Azerbaijani law amendments

The WG1 members, representing several organisations from both EaP and EU countries, support the statement of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety calling on the Azerbaijani government to refrain from adopting draft amendments to the laws “On the right to obtain information”, “On commercial secrets” and “On state registration and state registry of legal entities”, which would create unreasonable obstacles for the access to data on the ownership of private companies.

As IRFS fairly believes, these amendments violate the rights of media and broader society to obtain information on issues of public importance and restrict the work of investigative journalists, civil society activists from Azerbaijan, in disclosing information about corrupt deals and illegal ways of obtaining property by family members of high-ranking state officials.

The members of WG1 call on the authorities of the EaP countries to refrain from adopting laws which run counter to the principles of freedom of information and transparency of ownership, as well as hampering anti-corruption efforts of media and civil society.

The full text of the IRFS statement is available here.