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BAKU. February 8, 2010: The authorities want to ban journalists from taking photos and audio recordings, as well as filming people through video-cameras without their consent even in public places, Panah Huseyn, Deputy of the Azeri parliament from the opposition, told Turan.

"The amendments were submitted to parliament as a presidential legislative initiative on December 21, 2009. The amendments were discussed and adopted at two parliamentary committees," the Deputy said. He said the amendments were proposed after photos and videos of high-ranking officials were placed online.

The amendments were approved last week by the Parliamentary committees on Legal Policy, State-Building and Human Rights and were included into the agenda for the parliamentary session on February 12. According to the amendment to Article 60 of the Media Law, "media cannot take photos and videos of people without their consent, except for retrieval operations." This amendment will be applied to all the above mentioned laws. In a way this is the continuation of the legislative process, which started in May 2009, when the amendment banning video, still photos and audio recordings of persons without their consent was adopted in Azerbaijan.

The amendments seriously limit the media related activities, thereby violating the European Human Rights Convention and Azeri laws on media.

"The amendments will not allow journalists to cover the events, which is a step backward," Panah Huseyn said.

"There is also a political reason. The authorities are taking preventive measures on the eve of the parliamentary elections," the Deputy said.

Panah Huseyn said he would express his opinion on the amendments during the next parliamentary session.

Constitutional amendments legislating the requirement of “obtaining permission” before taking any photos, audio or video-recording were introduced in March 2009. However, there was hope those amendments would not be applied to the print and electronic media. The current legislation introduces the local mass media to a new environment and modus-operandi, which is much more restrictive than anytime before.

The Media Rights Institute's statement condemned not only the content of the amendments, but also their adoption procedure.

"Parliament has not posted the information about the proposed amendments on its website on time, which is a violation of the law on access to information," read the statement of the Institute. The amendment, which seriously limits freedom of expression, cannot be adopted hastily without public discussion and in a non-transparent environment. The Institute claims that making these reactionary amendments the law will damage the freedom of collecting and disseminating information.

"The journalists’ freedom to collect information cannot be limited to visual observation. The journalist conducting an investigation must have the right to observe using audio, still photo and video technical means," the Institute’s statement continues.

The amendments to Articles 47 (freedom of thought and freedom of speech) and 50 (freedom of information) of the Azeri Constitution contradict Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights and constitute an inappropriate interference into freedom of expression, the Institute stated.

The Institute urges the parliament to "exclude from discussion any proposals limiting freedom of expression" (Turan).