Analysts explain detentions of district officials in Azerbaijan

Ismail Veliev, a former head of the Neftchala District, and his subordinates have been detained under the case of bribes and embezzlements, the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan has informed. As noted by the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", the resonant officials' are intended to distract people's attention from falsifications at parliamentary elections.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 20, the Azerbaijani SSS detained several officials of the administration of the Neftchala District on suspicion of violating local residents' rights. On the same day, the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliev, dismissed Ismail Veliev, the head of the Neftchala District.

On February 21, the SSS officially confirmed the detention of Ismail Veliev on charges of abuse of his service powers and bribery. According to law enforcers, Veliev and his subordinates extorted money from heads of state institutions and entrepreneurs of the Neftchala District, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In the opinion of Arastun Orudjlu, the head of the "East-West" Research Centre, bribery and corruption are widespread among municipal bodies of power. He believes that the officials' detentions pursue several goals at once.

"Firstly, authorities are getting rid of old cadres; secondly, an opinion is being formed in people about a 'decisive fight against corruption'; thirdly, they distract people's attention from other social and political problems, in this case, from falsifications at the February 9 parliamentary elections," Mr Orudjlu told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 22, 2020 at 00:55 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.