U.S. Official Calls On Azerbaijan To Resolve Jailed Bloggers' Case

BAKU -- U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza says he recently mentioned the case of the two jailed Azerbaijani bloggers to President Ilham Aliyev, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Bryza, who was making his final trip to Azerbaijan as deputy assistant secretary of state, said on August 12 that the United States thinks "it is essential that these cases [of the jailed bloggers] be resolved according to due process" and that the state respects the fundamental rights of Azerbaijanis and "the advance of media freedom."

The two prominent bloggers, Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada, are still in pretrial detention on charges of hooliganism after they were arrested at an Internet cafe. There have been international calls for them to be released.

Bryza is leaving his post. The U.S. ambassador to Kosovo, Tina Kaidanow, will replace Bryza as deputy assistant secretary of state but reportedly will not take Bryza's position as cochair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group.