From left to right: Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks (Council of Europe) Jonathan Charles (moderator, EBRD former BBC), Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes

Top-tier rights advocates have used EBU co-led talks in Baku to exhort the government of Azerbaijan to end its culture of “criminalized” free speech, and protect journalists and bloggers.

Senior figures from the European Commission (EC), the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued a joint statement urging President Aliyev’s administration to secure “the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, both offline and online”.

The group, comprising Nils Muiznieks, CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of European Commission, urged Baku to investigate “crimes against reporters”.

It also called for the release of all journalists, bloggers and citizens “who have been deprived of their liberty as a result of expressing their views”.

The EBU co-organized the open forum titled “Safety of online media actors as a precondition for media pluralism and freedom of expression”, in cooperation with UNESCO, the OSCE and the Council of Europe, with support from the governments of Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders.

In its own statement, the European Union delegation was more forthright in its condemnation, saying: “We see the exercise of free speech effectively criminalized. We see violent attacks on journalists. And we see activists spied on online, violating the privacy of journalists and their sources.”

Among others who contributed to the IGF were Google’s freedom of expression chief, Bill Echikson, US Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, Lawrence Strickling, and UK Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey.