Another template about the thievish opposition and the Armenian track

The key person who transferred the funds of the PFPA is the citizen of Russia and Azerbaijan, Saleh Rustamov, the former head of the Gedabay region under the Elchibey government in 1992-93. The main recipient of money, according to the investigation in the amount of $412.000 in different years, becomes chairman of the Popular Front Party Ali Kerimli.

Saleh Rustamov, Vidadi Rustamli, Agil Maharramov, Ruslan Nasirov, Babek Hasanov, Eltaj Alisoy were brought to criminal liability under the Article 192.3.2 (illegal business with large-scale revenue extraction), 193-1.3.1 (legalization of money obtained by criminal means in an organized group) and 193-1.3.2 (the same actions committed on a large scale) of the Criminal Code.

S. Rustamov and V. Rustamli were arrested respectively on 8 and 10 May, and were initially charged with drug trafficking.

Ali Kerimli rejected charges in the message of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Moscow Department of Internal Affairs about the financing of the party by laundering dirty money. Kerimli said that Saleh Rustamov is his friend, and really sent him money, about $5000 in the course of several years. Jamil Hasanli, the Chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), in his statement on this issue said that the funds were used to support political prisoners and their families and pay for lawyers.

Political motivation

Previous and subsequent events, the nature of the statement of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs indicate that the criminal case announced on May 26 is politically motivated and aims to destroy the PFPA as an implacable political organization. Let us trace the chain of facts.

1.Saleh Rustamov was arrested on May 8 and has been kept in the Main Directorate for Combating Banditry and Organized Crime, which is a gross violation of the law. He is isolated, interrogations were conducted without the participation of the lawyer desired by him. The lawyer was appointed by the state. It is reported that the testimony was given under torture. The public has not submitted a video message to Rustamov, which may indicate that he is not able to appear before the public for physical reasons. Obviously, such confessions cannot be recognized as legitimate in any country dominated by the rule of law.

2. Attempts to accuse the PFPA of money laundering and illegal financing were made systematically. In March 2012, Elnur Seyidov, brother-in-law of Kerimli, was arrested on charges of financial fraud. In May 2017, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party Gezal Bayramli was arrested for allegedly attempting to transport 10,000 dollars from Georgia. At the same time, a lawsuit was filed in Georgia against Farman Ceyranli, the founder of the Lancet Clinic. The media wrote that the true reason for the arrest was that he allegedly provided financial assistance to the PFPA.

3. In August 2016, an assistant to the PFPA chairman, Faig Amirov, and an activist of the party Fuad Ahmedli were arrested. Ali Kerimli announced about his expected arrest. Pro-government media called PPFA the cell of "Gulenists" in Azerbaijan, although with the Gülenists worked state functionaries, including the presidential administration. The topic surfaced after the failed coup in Turkey on July 15, and the announcement on July 17 of a referendum on changes in the constitution of Azerbaijan. The latter fact can be called decisive for the attack on the PFPA with a view to neutralizing it in the course of the referendum.

4. In 2005, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, was launched the case of the PPFA functionary Ruslan Bashirli, who was arrested upon receiving $ 2,500 in Tbilisi to support the opposition in the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, unfolds.

Azerbaijani duet

The fact that accusations against PFPA are politically motivated is evidenced by the fact that a few days before May 26, began a campaign of harassment against the filmmaker and screenwriter Rustam Ibrahimbayov for the film "The Caucasian Trio", which appeared on the screens in 2015, where supposedly the Azerbaijanis are exposed in unsightly light. The director was accused of pro-Armenian sympathies. Many of those who criticized Ibrahimbayov did not watch the film. Pro-Armenian sympathies - this is a hackneyed map of the authorities, which is applied every time against opponents. The case of Ibrahimbayov, apparently, was a prelude to the Kerimli case, as evidenced by the course of the campaign:

1. Ibrahimbayov is exposed to the first stage of obstruction on state TV channels as a screenwriter and director.

2. Then was mentioned his connection with the National Council of the Democratic Forces, which he headed in 2013 on the eve of the presidential elections.

3. On the third day of the campaign, Ibrahimbayov's direct contacts with the opposition are indicated, and the inability and unwillingness of the latter to protect him.

Falsification of the media

The fact that this cooperative case has been falsified is confirmed by fact that government and pro-government media are campaigning for unilateral blackening. In violation of the law on the media, television and radio broadcasting, the opposing party is not given a legal right to speak, presenting its position to the audience. This also shows the political order of the Kerimli case with the Armenian overtones.

It remains only to directly link the case of Ibrahimbayov and Kerimli, and to present it as a big conspiracy of the Armenian forces. The Armenian trace is used schematically and regularly to reduce public support for opponents of the regime, to neutralize possible steps of public solidarity with obstructed persons.

However, it should be noted that the pattern of the regime for neutralizing opponents that has been repeated for many years has been sufficiently studied and mastered by the audiences. And in this sense, one should not expect that the society will accept and support the version of the conspiracy of "thievish opposition and pro-Armenian director".