Feyziyev's statements need to be investigated

Javanshir Feyziyev, who has been holding the post of deputy in the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan from Shaki Rural II Election Constituency # 115 since 2010, wrote a post yesterday and targeted politicians, journalists, public figures, and activists who have more or less exercised public control in the country and taken a systematic stance against corruption, calling them all criminals.

The politician, who was under serious investigation for corruption and whose 11 million 500 thousand manats were confiscated by British courts due to the fact that the source of funds belonging to him was corruption, accused those who criticized him and called for a political and legal response before the law of various crimes in accordance with his imagination and used the following expressions:

- "national traitors who join hands with Armenians in order to reach a political aim and carry out an international smear campaign against Azerbaijan and its representatives";

- "agents who surrendered to foreign intelligence agencies for the sake of easy gain or asylum and financial assistance in Europe, covering themselves under the guise of various international NGOs under the name of "journalists" or "political activists" and trying to obtain immunity status with their help in order to easily evade responsibility for their crimes";

- "they did not choose honest work to live well but took on responsibilities such as espionage, whistleblowing, sabotage, and slander."

- "experienced scammers", "young scammers".

While using all these expressions, the politician stained specific names, wrote lists, named well-known politicians, journalists, and public figures of the country. Thus, he claimed that the named persons committed these crimes. If not proved, these expressions constitute criminal liability under Article 147 of the Criminal Code.

Probably, against Javanshir Feyziyev's attempt to "protect" himself by tarnishing the image of others, these people will apply to the law, demanding that this person be brought to justice in a serious and consistent manner specifically due to both this slander and the consequences of possible corruption.

Because, according to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, fraud is clearly punishable under Article 178, espionage under Article 274, and slander under Article 147. As there is no such court decision on the persons charged with committing crimes under these articles, each of them can take it to court and apply to the courts against Javanshir Feyziyev in the form of private prosecution. He will not be able to hide for a long time under the armor of immunity.

Furthermore, the politician has made numerous claims that he will be directly liable under Article 23 of the Civil Code, damaging the reputation of those named. From this point of view, civil lawsuits can be filed against him, regardless of his immunity.

In a word, this person spoke with the logic of “the pot calling the kettle black”, and gave his name to his critics. However, for some reason, when he slandered those who criticized him and who said that he should be held accountable, he did not share a photo of his bank statement stating that he had paid 6.9 million manats in profit tax on his confiscated 11.5 million manats, as well as his non-confiscated funds 23 million manats (34 million 500 thousand manats in total). Because, if he took out so much money from the country, he would have to pay a 20% profit tax in return, as this is a net profit.

According to Article 103.1 of the Tax Code, resident and non-resident enterprises in the Republic of Azerbaijan are payers of profit tax and according to Article 105.1, the profit of enterprises is taxed at the rate of 20 percent.

Javanshir Feyziyev clearly stated in his post, “These funds were obtained from the companies I founded, co-founded, or directed between 1987 and 2010. These companies were the largest taxpayers in the country and made a worthy contribution to the budget.”

In the end, he expressed his confidence: "All the money I earned was obtained in a transparent and legal way, taxes were paid, and it belongs to me and my family members."

While writing these statements, Javanshir Feyziyev forgot to attach documents confirming this statement for some reason. However, his target politicians, journalists, bloggers, and others will now be able to demand that he and the Central Election Commission, where he took refuge, submit these documents.

Feyziyev stressed that all his income was received by 2010, especially in order not to add his current post to the issue. But he forgets that among the information required by Article 58 of the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the registration of his candidacy, he also had to submit information on the amount and sources of his income of 34.5 million manats (maybe more than that).

Since there is a requirement of information on the amount and sources of a candidate's income in Article 58.1.4 of the Election Code, and since the CEC registered Javanshir Feyziyev as a candidate in 2010, 2015, and 2020, this information must have been submitted to the CEC.

As a politician, Feyziyev has a political responsibility to disseminate this information, as the issue will be discussed in public, as well as in court. That is, what information he submitted to the CEC in 2010.

Accordingly, the CEC is legally responsible for the fact that it was aware of the sources of Feyziyev’s 34.5 million manats.

Although Feyziyev knew that the income of the Shaki Rural II Election Constituency # 115, which he represented as a politician, as well as the entire Shaki district, was only 10 million 212 thousand manats in 2010, shouldn't he have given an account of why he invested his personal income, which was 340% more than this money, in a distant Britain, not in his native district, of which problems he promised to solve?

This behavior of this person alone is enough for the political power, which protects him in his party, to call on him to resign from the party and the Parliament in order to fulfill the expectations of the society.

The Prosecutor General's Office must immediately appeal to the Milli Majlis to lift his parliamentary immunity and conduct an objective investigation. From now on, Feyziyev's immunity armor should not remain. Legal acquittal or liability requires it.