Christopher Strasser: It is necessary to investigate why CoE does  not address issue of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.The Council of Europe should show an equally fair approach to the discussion of the events taking place in the member countries of the Organization. 

Former PACE member and special rapporteur on the issue of the  political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Christopher Strasser, told  ArmInfo, answering the question of why the critical problems  regarding Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh remain in the shadows and are  not given due publicity on the PACE platform and in the Council of  Europe.

It should be noted that during the winter session of the PACE in  Strasbourg, an unscheduled meeting was held on the topic " The  follow-up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan ", ahead  of the 10th anniversary of the rejection of Strasser's report. At  that time, Christopher Strasser was subjected to fierce attacks from  Azerbaijani and European parliamentarians who disputed the presence  of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, as a result of which his report  was rejected. This attracted the attention of the European Stability  Initiative (ESI) think tank, which later published a revealing report  on Azerbaijan's policy of "caviar diplomacy" and the bribery of a  number of European parliamentarians and officials by the Aliyev  regime.

During the meeting in Strasbourg, ESI's Director Gerald Knaus cited a  number of statements and critical remarks by MEPs during the hearing  of the Strasser report 10 years ago, which were distinguished by  their cynicism and denied the importance of the problem of political  prisoners in Azerbaijan.

In a conversation with ArmInfo, Strasser agreed that the Council of  Europe and PACE are demonstrating a selective approach, as a result  of which Azerbaijan does not bear any responsibility for its actions  regarding Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. There is no proper punishment  in the form of, for example, exclusion from the organization, as  happened in the case of Russia.

"I think it is important to investigate the reasons why the Council  of Europe, PACE do not address the issue of Armenian prisoners of war  in Azerbaijan. The only way to achieve, is to find like-minded  persons and allies in PACE. I do not see other possibilities except  to create strong contacts," Strasser noted.