Azeris should drop journalist charges-rights envoy

BAKU, Sept 7 (Reuters) Azerbaijan should drop defamation charges against journalists it has recently arrested, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said today.

Oil producing Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea coast, has arrested several journalists critical of the government over the past few months on charges of defamation and bribery.

''I discussed with the authorities the issue of defamation in the media. I think these cases should not be prosecuted,'' Hammarberg told a news conference through a translator after meeting Azeri authorities in Baku.

''However, I did not receive a clear answer from the authorities on the fate and possible amnesty of the journalists arrested on these charges.'' In May, journalists from two banned newspapers applied for asylum in the West, saying it was unsafe to work as a journalist in Azerbaijan.

REUTERS PDT KN2342