"Of course, the Prosecutor General`s Office will not investigate this issue and will pass over it in silence."

The Musavat Party, the National Council of Democratic Forces, and the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party have appealed to the country's Prosecutor General, Kamran Aliyev, in connection with the international journalistic investigation of the Pandora Papers.

According to the paper, the family of the President of Azerbaijan bought real estate in the UK worth 429 million pounds ($ 694 million). Opposition organizations believe that the Prosecutor General's Office should open a criminal case and conduct a thorough and objective investigation.

Earlier, too, the names of high-ranking Azerbaijani officials were mentioned in international scandals over money laundering and transfer of funds offshore. The Musavat Party appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office in connection with the Panama Papers published in 2016, and the National Council of Democratic Forces appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office in connection with another scandalous investigation, the Azerbaijani Laundromat, published in 2017.

Lawyer Nemat Karimli, a member of the Musavat Party's Council, answered ASTNA's questions on the issue.

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Question: Nemat Bey, Musavat Party and the National Council appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate the 700 million-worth property allegedly belonging to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Pandora Papers. What made you, as the Musavat Party, take this step?

Answer: As one of the two main opposition parties currently operating in the country, the Musavat Party expresses its views on the processes taking place in all spheres of society, fights legally to eliminate lawlessness, makes proposals for reforms and improvement of the welfare of the population.

Well-known facts do not need proof, and corruption, bribery, and injustice are common in the country. Therefore, the Musavat Party was not surprised when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released a paper stating that Ilham Aliyev and his relatives had acquired property worth about $ 700 million in Britain, mainly in London, through offshore companies. To make that much money, you either had to run a business, or you had to deal with corruption, or you had to inherit. There is no doubt that the property was acquired through corruption, as the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan prohibits the President from engaging in commercial activities and there is no information about the inherited property. Therefore, the Musavat Party's Council appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office to find out how these properties were bought and give the issue a legal assessment.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on October 7, Ilham Aliyev said that there might be 5 percent truth, and the rest was false, that he ran a business before his 18-year presidency and was not a poor man when he was elected president, that he stopped participating directly in business after becoming president and passed all his business to his children, that his children had investments both in Azerbaijan and abroad, and that all their business activities were transparent and audited at the international level, and no one could claim that something was wrong there.

This cannot be true. Because before becoming president in 2003, Ilham Aliyev was vice-president of the State Oil Company since 1994, and a member of the Milli Majlis since 1995, and these positions do not coincide with commercial activities. On the other hand, he did not provide information about his business and large property in his financial documents about his property during his candidacy for parliament and the presidency. His wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, was also a member of parliament in 2005 and 2010; however, she did not provide information about this property in her financial documents. According to the Constitution, everyone was required to pay income tax; however, the public was not informed about Aliyev's pre-presidential and family business taxes.

Question: Do you think that the Prosecutor General's Office is able to investigate any complaint, issue, appeal against the President?

Answer: Of course, the Prosecutor General's Office will not investigate this issue and will pass over it in silence. According to the criminal procedure legislation, criminal proceedings may also be instituted on the basis of information published in the mass media. The prosecutor's office could have launched an investigation without the appeal of the Musavat Party and the National Council regarding the Pandora Papers.

Question: Earlier, too, the Musavat Party appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the facts stated in the Panama Papers. What was the result?

Answer: Yes, the Musavat Party appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the Panama Papers, and as there was no reaction to this issue, it appealed to the Administrative-Economic Court regarding the violation of rights. The court returned the documents because the appeal was not relevant to this court, and then the district court was re-appealed in the general and judicial review procedure. Although the courts decided to return the documents, they were not officially returned or notified, so the results were reported late. When the decisions were appealed, the appeal was not accepted due to the expiration of the deadline, and the issue was closed.

Question: What steps will you take if the Prosecutor General's Office does not investigate your appeal again?

Answer: Due to the non-response of the Prosecutor General's Office, we will appeal to the court again and try to fight for legal measures at the national and international levels.

Question: In general, what legal steps are taken in developed countries in such cases?

Answer: At present, developed countries are mainly law-based, democratic, legal states, and it is impossible for them to have such cases in this manner. There is a law and public control over officials, and property and tax issues are transparent. Therefore, such cases do not occur, and there is no need for special legal action in such cases in developed countries.

According to Article 148.1 of the Civil Code, which came into force in 2000, the state register of real estate should be open to everyone. Any interested person may get acquainted with the sections of the state register of real estate of interest to him/her, as well as all the documents related to these sections under the official of the relevant executive authority compiling the state register of real estate, and may also require them to provide extracts.

However, the article was amended on April 21, 2006, to allow officials to conceal their property. According to the new amendment, a description of real estate, a certificate from the state register on state-registered rights and their restrictions (encumbrances) shall be issued to the right holder, to his/her authorized representative in the manner prescribed by law, to persons entitled to inherit the property of the right holder on the basis of law or will, and to the relevant state bodies and municipalities in connection with the exercise of powers.

Even in developed authoritarian China, the fight against corruption is fierce, and hundreds of people a year are executed for these crimes.

Kamran Mahmudov