22/01/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Union welcomed on Tuesday 22 January the drop of new charges against anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov. He was imprisoned for 2 years and is due to be released in March. He was facing charges that could have resulted in an additional seven years' imprisonment. This drop “is a positive development”, an EU spokesman told EUROPE. In mid-January, the European Parliament called for the blogger's release and the new charges to be dropped (see EUROPE 12174). “We will continue to engage with the authorities in Azerbaijan, stressing the importance of reforms in the field of fundamental freedoms and human rights for the deepening of the relationship with the EU”, the spokesperson said, adding that the EU looked forward to discussing justice and human rights issues at a meeting in Baku on 5 February. (CG)