ALMATY, 7 September 2006 - Legislation regulating and affecting freedom of assembly in some European and Central Asian countries will be the focus of a roundtable discussion in Almaty on 11 September.

Organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Centre in Almaty, the event will bring together international experts, government officials and civil society representatives from Belarus, Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian States.

The meeting is part of efforts to implement the OSCE/ODIHR guidelines for drafting laws pertaining to freedom of assembly. Once consolidated, the guidelines will provide lawmakers and law-enforcement officials in OSCE participating States with a practical toolkit on legislative regulation of assemblies and public meetings in the light of relevant international instruments and good practices from the OSCE area.

Media representatives are invited to attend the opening of the conference at 9.30 a.m., on Wednesday, 11 September, at the Kazakhstan Hotel, in Almaty.