Wednesday, February 5 2020 19:37

ArmInfo.The Council of Europe, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, is now facing serious problems.  In particular, corruption scandals and, in particular, "caviar  diplomacy" caused serious damage to the organization's image. As  Turan informs, this opinion expressed in an interview with the Voice  of America, Azerbaijani service, the former head of Azerbaijan's  representation in the Council of Europe, Ambassador Arif Mammadov,  who is now in political emigration to Europe.

 "I can't say that these problems have been fixed. In a number of  issues, there are still no major changes for the better. True, some  corrupt officials were excluded from national delegations. However,  those involved in corruption still remain in the secretariat and in a  number of delegations," Mammadov said.

He testified to the Independent Investigative Group created in PACE  to investigate corruption in the assembly. Mammadov considers it  necessary to create a mechanism for monitoring the composition of  delegations. They should include both representatives of the  authorities and the opposition. However, only representatives of the  government are included in the Azerbaijani delegation in view of the  absence of real opposition, he said.

When asked what mechanisms are developed in PACE to prevent future  corruption, Mammadov noted that the measures taken are not  sufficient.  A number of deputies were banned from entering the  Council of Europe building. However, some are still represented in  their parliaments. Some generally escaped the investigation. The most  famous defendant in the scandal was the Italian deputy Luca Volonte.  It is proved that the government of Azerbaijan transferred money to  his accounts. "I attended the trial of his case in an Italian court.  The advocates protecting him are still financed by the Azerbaijani  side. In the hall, representatives of the Italian police told me that  the best lawyers of the country protect Volonte. We know that they  are financed from Azerbaijan. At the same time, there are no  restrictions on Volonte. He has not  been arrested; there are no  restrictions on him. Only once every 3-5 months he is summoned to  court, asked some questions. This all ends. Alas, Europe is far  removed from its values and this is true," Mammadov said.

In December 2016, the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a non-  governmental organization, published an investigation on Caviar  Diplomacy-2 on the practice of bribing PACE deputies by Azerbaijani  politicians to make decisions beneficial to official Baku. According  to this report, Luca Volonte, head of the European People's Party  faction in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, named  the names of many European politicians who unselfishly lobbied for  the interests of the Azerbaijani authorities. During interrogations,  he confirmed that money came from his accounts in Azerbaijan, which,  according to ESI, went to bribe deputies from Italy and other  European countries. These deputies voted against PACE resolutions and  reports condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan, ESI said.  Volonte continues to be under investigation.