Miklos Haraszti, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) representative on media freedom, said during a visit to Baku that he hopes the criminalization of journalists' errors will come to an end in Azerbaijan, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.
Haraszti was in Baku to present an OSCE-initiated booklet on self-regulation of the media. He said a self-regulating media "has a number of advantages" over a government-regulated one.
The booklet has been translated into 10 languages and includes quotations from famous media experts.
Haraszti also spoke about setting up a press council, stressing that such a body should act not only as a mediator between the media and the government, but also should work to defend the media.
He has met with local media leaders and imprisoned journalists since arriving in Baku on September 7.
Haraszti has not commented publicly on the jailing and trial of
two bloggers, who have been in detention since July.