April 27, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An OSCE official has asked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to issue a moratorium on the criminal prosecution of journalists.
Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, told Aliyev at a meeting in Baku that Azerbaijan has the highest number of imprisoned journalists among OSCE members.
Haraszti said five journalists are in prison in Azerbaijan and 12 new cases are pending.
On April 20, Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist who frequently criticized the government, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.