STRASBOURG, JANUARY 25 (RIA Novosti) - Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, or Russia's upper house of parliament, and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, says he finds it "impossible to imagine" that the Azeri delegation may be expelled from PACE.
In a RIA Novosti interview, Margelov said a serious debate was indeed forthcoming at PACE, on Azerbaijan's democratic institutions and political prisoners. But he made it clear that the Russian delegates would support their Azeri counterparts.
The news about the possible expulsion of the Azeri delegation from PACE has been spread by mass media, referring to an Azerbaijan-related draft resolution to be considered at the upcoming PACE session in Strasbourg. Reports on Azerbaijan are to be delivered on Tuesday, January 27, by Andreas Gross of Switzerland and Martinez Kassan, of Spain. According to media, these reports cite human rights violations and instances of election fraud in last year's presidential polls in Azerbaijan.
