The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the song contest, was considering fining Azerbaijan or banning it from the contest for up to three years for violating contest rules.
The EBU said in a September 17 statement that its ruling body, the Reference Group, acknowledges that some Azerbaijanis who voted for the Armenian entry were called to the National Security Ministry.
The union also decried the breach in privacy of Azerbaijanis who voted via mobile phone for the Armenian song and were reported to the government.
EBU Director-General Jean Reveillon said violating the privacy of voters "or interrogation of individuals...is totally unacceptable."
sponsored by
India?s all-female UN police unit serves as inspiration for Liberian women
Liberian girls and women should draw inspiration from the all-female Indian police unit serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to join law enforcement agencies in the service of their own nation, the top UN official in the West African country said today.
Ensuring child rights still a challenge, 20 years after landmark treaty - UN officials
The Convention on the Rights of the Child has become the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history, but 20 years after its adoption, much more remains to be done to turn its promises into reality for millions worldwide, top United Nations officials said today.
The union said the rule change is aimed at ensuring that the privacy of Eurovision contest voters is protected. It added that its previous rules put the obligation for protection of voters' privacy on the respective telecommunications companies.
The EBU said it does not have the ability to penalize the telecom companies but can now, in future contests, impose sanctions against the broadcaster.
The Reference Group is made up of delegates from Norway, Russia, and Serbia -- the last three winners of the Eurovision contest -- along with Spain, Holland, Ireland, and two members from Sweden.
In one example of the harassment, Rovshan Nasirli, a 25-year-old Azerbaijani, was called to the country's National Security Ministry on August 12 to explain why he voted for an Armenian song in the contest broadcast from Moscow in May.
The officials told Nasirli that his vote for Armenia -- Azerbaijan's long-standing rival -- was a matter of national security and requested a written explanation before releasing him.



RSS