R.Hajili: accusations against Anar Mammadov are groundless

General Prosecutor's Office made ​​a statement  due to the arrest of Anar Mammadov, the head  of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS.) According to a report from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Taxes were received materials about " the abuse of power" by  the officials  of the EMDS and public associations of international cooperation of volunteers,  implementation of " illegal business activities to generate large revenues and evasion of payment of taxes."

On this basis, on 29 October a lawsuit was filed under the Articles 192.2.2 (illegal business with the extraction of a large income), 192.2.3 (illegal business in an organized group,) 213.2.1 ( tax evasion in an organized group ) 213.2.2 ( large-scale  tax evasion,) and 308.2 ( abuse of office to influence the results.)

The investigation verified activities of these structures with experts of the Council on State Support to NGOs.

The investigation established that in May 2012 the head Anar Mammadov EMDS and CEO Bashir Suleymanli agreed with the Head of the Public Association for International Cooperation Volunteers (PAICV) , Elnur Mammadov,  to  the name of this NGO  a grant of the U.S. National Democratic Institute in the amount of  $276,010.

Thereafter , Suleymanli was appointed vice president of the PAICV.  By making cash at the bank  $163,250 dollars, he used them to pay to public relations manager , lawyer, expert and other officials of EMDS, expenses for office rent , although  the EMDS was not a legal entity.

Overall revenue was recovered in the amount of 109,529 manat , and in accordance with Article 219.1 of the Tax Code , the state budget has not been paid 19,535 manat as VAT .

There are also suspicions of falsification  by the head of the EMDS, Mammadov,  signatures of the founders of NGOs.

On the  results of the investigation , Anar Mammadov and Bashir Suleymanli   have been charged under the Aarticles 192.2.2 , 213.1 and 308.2 , and Mammadov - 192.2.2 , 213.1 , 308.2 and 313 (forgery.)

Suleymanli  and Mammadov  must not leave the country, and Mammadov  has been  arrested.

The investigation  is ongoing, the report said .

The EMDS was established in 2008 on the basis of the Election Monitoring Center which     was deprived of state registration by the  authorities. All these years the EMDS vainly striving for state registration. Lack of state registration  had   to attract other NGOs to implement projects.

Commenting on the arrest of  the lawyer Mammadov for Turan, the  Director of the Media Rights Institute (MRI), Rashid Hajili,  told about inconsistency  of the alleged violation of the law .

EMDS attracted other NGO, which acted as the fiscal agent.  There is such a practice  in Azerbaijan for many years. Therefore, the assertion of illegal business activities is inconsistent, just like any accusation of embezzling funds.

The talk is about the grant of the National Democratic Institute (NDI ) and with claims of misappropriation of funds can act this structure. If there is no fact of the assignment, it is not logical to charge tax evasion, and even more – the VAT.

The lawyer considers unlikely the existence of any financial irregularities, as NDI quarterly demanded accountability for funds.

Besides, the violation of law is the fact of  spread  of messages by the Prosecutor Office, where civil society activists  have been  noted as people who committed crime. It is a violation of the presumption of innocence, Hajili said.

As for the accusation of "election fraud", the lawyer called it absurdity.—06D-