Лука Волонте
Baku/15.02.18/Turan: The joy of Milli Mejlis MP Elkhan Suleymanov and presidential assistant, Ali Hasanov, because of lifting charges from the Italian MP, Luka Volonte, was premature. Thus, the allegations of money laundering were lifted, but charges of corruption allegations remain, and he is still under investigation, wrote on his page in Facebook an investigative journalist, a member of the international journalistic research network OCCRP, Khadija Ismayilova. Luka Volonte is a figurant of the international scandal "caviar diplomacy" - the investigation of the international NGO "European Stability Initiative". Volonte is accused of receiving 2.3 million euros from Azerbaijan, which were spent on bribing a number of PACE deputies in order to fail the report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan in January 2013. In 2016, the Milan prosecutor's office launched an investigation against Volonte, raising charges against him. However, the other day Milli Majlis deputy Elkhan Suleymanov, and then Ali Hasanov, assistant to the president, happily announced that all charges had been dropped from Volonte. Hasanov even threatened those who "slandered" Azerbaijan. However, Ismayilova wrote today, only charges of money laundering have been dropped from Volonte.
This means that the court confirmed that after the laundering he did not return money received from the people close to the government of Azerbaijan. The charge of accepting bribes remains in force, and Volonter was deprived of immunity, Ismayilova writes. "This is a PR disaster. Threatening the journalists, and speaking lies about the court, they simply reminded foreign media about bribes and gave another reason to talk about corruption in Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe. It's very unprofessional," Ismayilova wrote in connection with the "accusatory" statements by Suleymanov and Hasanov.
The fact that Volonter is charged with corruption was also confirmed by his lawyers. -06D-
Politics
-
On 23 November at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, eco-activists from different countries held a protest action against the failure of countries to agree on climate finance.
-
On the eve of the closing of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has drawn attention to the criminal cases of journalists detained in Azerbaijan.
-
Negotiations at the 29th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku have been extended until November 24, a source in the UNFCCC Secretariat told the Turan news agency. According to the source, participants aim to finalize and sign the concluding documents by that date.
-
According to the Turkish newspaper Sabah, officials from the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office's Anti-Smuggling Unit have detained an Azerbaijani citizen with a large shipment of gold. The detention took place near the Vadi İstanbul shopping center in the Sarıyer district, where a taxi was stopped. During the search, 70 kg of gold was found. The Azerbaijani citizen in the vehicle claimed ownership of the cargo and also stated that he was a diplomat. The investigation by the prosecutor's office is ongoing, reports Sabah newspaper. The media outlet does not disclose the name of the "diplomat," only his initials – M.G.Ş. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to comment on the situation.
Leave a review