U.S. intelligence service finds proof of PACE observers’ bribery at Azeri polls: report

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. intelligence service found proof that the members of the PACE committee, monitoring presidential poll in Azerbaijan were bribed, with part of the evidence, including MEPs’ phone conversation records, passed on to the country’s opposition.

As Yeni Musavat said, citing own sources, even before the start of the elections, the intelligence service tapped telephone conversations and internet correspondence of MEPs. According to the report, the chair of the Azerbaijani delegation to PA Euronest Elkhan Suleymanov was authorized to hold talks. As the report reveals, U.S. procured evidence that fees to the amount of $50 thous. were transferred to a number of European parliamentarians through a German law firm.

The European Parliament will discuss the results of the October 9 presidential elections in January 2014. Should the falsification claims prove serious, a subsequent decision won't be based on the conclusions of PACE observers. "An international scandal inevitable unless Azeri authorities manage to change the situation in their favor," the source said.

According to earlier reports, Elkhan Suleymanov was involved in a briery of a number of MEPs. Rumours name Suleymanov among the leading figures of Azeri caviar diplomacy and even its initiator. Recently, the European Stability Initiative report stressed that a group of PACE members who visited Azerbaijan were given pricey gifts, minval.az said.

Azerbaijan's leader Ilham Aliyev claimed victory in the October 9 presidential polls.

With about three-quarters of the votes counted Aliyev had won nearly 85%, the national election commission said.

The president called the election a "triumph of democracy", but opposition groups alleged widespread fraud.

Aliyev inherited the presidency from his father in 2003. He has stifled dissent and scrapped term limits.