Sixty Members of PACE Demand to Investigate Facts of Corruption at Failure of Strasser`s Report on Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan

Sixty deputies of the Council of Europe in the course of the winter session of the PACE ended on Friday signed a declaration with an appeal to investigate the facts of bribery of deputies to block the 2013 report of Christopher Strasser on political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

According to the report by the NGO European Stability Initiative, on the eve of the session, several international organizations called on PACE to investigate the fact of bribery of Italian MP Luca Volonte by two Azerbaijani parliamentarians with a view to the failure of Strasser's report.

On the first day of the session on January 23 the French MP Josette Durrieu and the Danish Mogens Jensen called on the head of the PACE Pedro Agramunt to express his attitude to these appeals and initiate an independent investigation into the facts of corruption.

They were supported by the Dutch deputy Tiny Kox and British Ian Liddell-Grainger.

Former PACE President Anne Brasseur stressed that PACE has no right to turn a blind eye on such things and prevent the loss of faith in the principles and values of Europe.

To all these applications the head of PACE Pedro Agramunt did not react.

The next day, at the PACE an appeal of eight deputies from Scandinavian and Baltic countries was extended, which also expressed a requirement to carry out the necessary investigation and to assess the facts of corruption by a number of deputies.

This appeal was upheld and on 24 January signed by dozens of deputies from different countries, who demanded from Agramunt to express his position.

Not waiting for an answer, on January 25, 60 deputies issued an open appeal, calling on all members of the Assembly require a response from the PACE leadership.

This appeal, entitled "The integrity of the Parliamentary Assembly" states:

1. “The integrity and effectiveness of the Parliamentary Assembly depend on the observance of the highest standards of conduct by its members. Recent, serious and credible allegations of grave misconduct by some ot its members risk undermining public confidence in the Parliamentary Assembly's integrity.

We, the undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly believe that the Assembly must: establish, without delay, an external, fully independent and impartial inquiry into all allegations of improper conduct or corruption that may have sought to influence the work of the Assembly in recent years, focusing in particular on allegations surrounding the vote on political prisoners in Azerbaijan in January 2013; the conclusions of the inquiry and its recommendations should be made public directly to the Assembly and the public at large;

2. ensure that the Assembly's Code of Conduct is strengthened in accordance with international best practice and recommendations requested from GRECO; and that the strict observance of these standards is monitored and enforced by a permanent independent mechanism attached to the Assembly.

We therefore call on all members from across political party groups to support our call for an independent investigation and for an integrity framework worthy of our institution”.

Only after that Pedro Agramunt decided to react, saying that talking about corruption is a matter of "honor".

«As President of the Assembly, I cannot allow the honour of the Assembly or of any of its members to be defamed. I cannot allow this Assembly to be misused as a platform to fight battles against states that some perceive as rivals or enemies. I cannot allow campaigns of hatred, verbal aggression, blackmail or pressure, orchestrated by those who are not satisfied with the results of a vote … It is important to understand that unlawful attacks on the honour and reputation of an individual may require defence through the courts."

Despite this statement of Agramunt, the number of signatories to the Declaration of Deputies has increased. It remains an open list and the deputies intend to return to this subject during the April session. -02D-