During the so-called Global Media Forum in Shushi, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made sensational statements, accusing the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of financial fraud and criticizing the former high-ranking official of the European Union.
According to the Azerbaijani Report agency, during the opening ceremony of the event held on July 13, the leader of Azerbaijan announced that the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo was financed by an “Armenian oligarch”. According to Aliyev, this support was aimed at the promotion of issues related to Armenia, and a prominent anti-Azerbaijani group operated within the European Commission.
Referring to the relations with the European Union, the President of Azerbaijan severely criticized the former head of European diplomacy Joseph Borelli. He noted that during Borel’s tenure, relations between Brussels and Baku were on the verge of a complete collapse. Aliyev expressed hope that after the European official’s departure from politics, bilateral relations will finally enter the stage of improvement.
It should be noted that the corruption accusations against European and international officials are marked by serious contradictions, because it is the leadership of Azerbaijan that has repeatedly appeared at the center of major international financial scandals. The Center for Corruption and Organized Crime Research (OCCRP) and the world’s leading media revealed the scheme called “Azerbaijani Laundry” years ago.
Investigative journalists found that Baku had funneled around $2.9 billion through Western banks and shell companies to bribe politicians in Europe and lobby for the country’s interests.
Moreover, well-known leaks of financial documents, such as the “Pandora Papers”, have revealed hundreds of millions of dollars in secret offshore assets and luxury real estate belonging to the Aliyev family and their associates in the UK and other countries, which continue to be the target of strong criticism from international human rights and anti-corruption organizations.
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