Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Elizabeth Valaas congratulated Nasibova with the prize. During a conversation which lasted for an hour they talked about sociopolitical situation in Azerbaijan, Radio Liberty reported.
She said that the efforts of democratic publicity which tries to obtain liberation of journalists Eynulla Fatullayev and Ganimat Zahidov do not have results. The authorities arrested the bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, and the Director of “Tolishi Sado” newspaper Novruzali Mamedov died in jail.
Nasibova called on the Norwegian government to make a contribution to the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan , and noted inadmissibility of victimizing of democratic values to economic interests of other states in Azerbaijan. “Previously foreign oil companies operating in Azerbaijan, including Statoil, placed advertisements in the opposition newspapers, and it was an economic support for the newspapers; but now it is not so, and we can assume the reasons,” Nasibova said.
In Norway’s parliament Nasibova met with members of the committee for foreign affairs. The main subject they discussed was the position of the Council of Europe towards Azerbaijan.
Malahat Nasibova was awarded the above mentioned prize on November 1 in the Norwegian city of Bergen for selfless giving coverage of the events on violation of human rights and corruption problems in Nakhchivan despite risks and threats to her safety.