AZERBAIJAN’S PARLIAMENT THROWS VEIL OF SECRECY OVER BUSINESS SECTOR
tert.am
14.06.12
Re-published from EurasiaNet
Recent legislative efforts in Azerbaijan to protect the privacy of
President Ilham Aliyev and his family are coming at the expense of
investors, both foreign and domestic.
The Azerbaijani parliament voted June 12 to restrict public access
to information about the registration, ownership structure and
shareholders of Azerbaijani corporations. In addition, legislators
granted President Aliyev and his wife, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva,
lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution.
The immunity provision for the Aliyevs was not unexpected: the proposal
had been under consideration for a year. But the corporate secrecy
amendment was added to parliament’s agenda only after the conclusion
of the May 22-26 Eurovision Song Contest.
The pop-music festival, which brought unprecedented international
attention to Azerbaijan, was preceded by a series of articles by RFE/RL
investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who highlighted alleged
conflicts of interest involving mining rights granted to a gold-mining
companyowned by President Aliyev’s two daughters, Leyla and Arzu, and
Eurovision construction workby a company linked to the two Aliyevas
and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, the head of Eurovision’s organizing
committee. [Editor’s Note: Islamyilova also contributes to EurasiaNet].
By law, officials’ relatives may own businesses, but members of
parliament – the First Lady sits in the legislature for the ruling
Yeni Azerbaijan Party – cannot.
In public statements, government officials have asserted that such
investigative coverage violated the presidential family’s right
to privacy. The articles followed earlier pieces that examined the
Aliyeva daughters’ investments intelecommunications, airport operations
and banking.
Under the terms of the secrecy amendment, obtaining information about
such investments now could prove more difficult. The government will
release information about the registrations of for-profit companies
only upon request by a court, law-enforcement agency or Central Bank
monitors investigating suspected money-laundering or the financing
of terrorist groups.
Journalists and the general public would be denied such information if
its distribution “contradicts the national interests of Azerbaijan in
political, economic and monetary policy, the defense of public order,
the health and moral values of the people and harms the commercial
and other interests of individuals.”
In addition, corporate records will be provided only if the petitioner
has the consent of those individuals named in the data.
Information about registered Azerbaijani companies’ ownership and
shareholders previously had been publicly available on the Ministry
of Taxes’ website. The ministry was required to provide registry
details to citizens within a week of receipt of a written request.
All but four of the 103 members of parliament present voted in favor
of the restrictions. Another two MPs did not vote; First Lady Aliyeva
was not present.
President Aliyev is expected to sign the secrecy and immunity
amendments into law this week.
Government officials have not commented on the amendments, but one
senior Yeni Azerbaijani Party MP who backed the new restrictions
claimed the measure does not limit Azerbaijanis’ right to information.
In June 6 comments to the Azeri-language service of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, Ali Huseynly, chair of the parliament’s Committee
on Legal Policy and State Building, claimed that the amendment
“clarifies the frameworks for the right to receive information.” The
lack of such “frameworks” often leads to “violations,” Huseynly added.
Parliamentarian Fazail Agamaly, a member of the pro-government Ana
Vatan (Motherland) Party, asserted that “[j]ournalists should be
satisfied with the information about a company provided by its owner.”
“Otherwise, the release of some information could create financial
problems for businesses,” Agamaly reasoned.
Civil society and media-rights watchdogs counter that the secrecy
amendment, indeed, is designed to prevent problems – namely, for
Aliyev’s friends and family members.
Lawyer Intigam Aliyev [no relation to the presidential family],
director of the Legal Education Society, a Baku non-governmental
organization that monitors legislation implementation, asserted
the amendment is “a response of corrupt authorities to a number of
articles in local and foreign media about the large business assets
of the ruling family in Azerbaijan and oligarchs.”
Opposition MP Igbal Aghazade, a member of the Umid (Hope) Party, who
voted against the amendment, said the measure only “serves the idea
of keeping information about the commercial interests of a group of
high-ranking government officials a secret.”
Restricting the availability of company data from the public can
harm the country’s ability to fight corruption, noted Media Rights
Institute Director Rashid Hajily. In 2011, Azerbaijan ranked 143rd out
of 183 countries in a corruption index compiled by the international
watchdog group Transparency International.
“Citizens will be deprived of public [oversight] over officials’
links with businesses,” Hajily said. “It creates a strong foundation
for the proliferation of conflicts of interest.”
Meanwhile, activists who tried to highlight Azerbaijan’s spotty
civil-rights record during the Eurovision contest say that they will
fight back against the “business secrets” amendment. “We will campaign
both locally and internationally, will demand in public debates
the annulment of this legislation, will raise the issue at related
international conferences and in interviews with foreign media,”
pledged Rasul Jafarov, head of the Human Rights Club, a Baku-based
non-governmental organization.
From: A. Papazian