Center for National and International Studies

 

FB Digest@VoxPOPULI

25.10.2021

“We must take legal action against all those who take our time, energy, damage our nerves, and try to distract us from serious work with their actions, insults, and slanders, which are clearly defined as a crime in the Criminal Code.”

Governance, economy, corruption.

Ali Karimli of APFP asked his followers on FB to be active in demanding their rights. Karimli wrote: Dear compatriots, it is necessary to be able to do everything on time. These days we need to strengthen our demand for child benefits. We must demand the rights of war veterans and the families of martyrs. We must demand an increase in salaries and pensions. First of all, the state budget for 2022 will be adopted in the coming weeks. Right now, the government must face the demands of all the people. Secondly, especially as a result of rising oil and gas prices, the state budget has great potential. In the first nine months of 2021, the country’s consolidated budget had a profit of 3 billion 563.1 million manats. In addition, the Central Bank‘s reserves increased by $ 542.4 million (920 million manats) during the first eight months of this year. Governments in other countries spend foreign exchange reserves and even borrow money to alleviate social tensions exacerbated by the pandemic to provide their people with billions of dollars in social packages. We must raise our voices together and explain to the government that it is unfair to continue corruption, to brag about the budget surplus, to be addicted to increasing state reserves. Our people are suffering a lot. In fact, more than half of the country’s children grow up in poverty. Our war heroes, martyrs’ families, unemployed and poor people are in a miserable situation. The government should add child benefits to the 2022 state budget. It should seriously increase the social benefits for the families of martyrs and veterans.

Azadlig Newspaper reports that the European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the Pandora Papers. According to the document, it was decided to investigate those involved in corruption. The resolution also includes the name of president Ilham Aliyev.

Reflecting on the above-mentioned resolution, Gubad Ibadoghlu wrote that the Pandora Papers revealed tax evasion on an unprecedented scale. Therefore, the resolution calls for the investigation of all persons whose names were mentioned in the Pandora Papers and considers that the European Prosecutor should also assess whether the statements are worthy of a specific investigation. Gubadoghlu added that the resolution directly criticizes Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Montenegrin President Milo Dukanovic. “I think that the study of the Pandora Papers at the international level and its legal and political assessment in terms of national interests and global interests will continue…The British National Crime Agency, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Transparency International, the Council of Europe’s Corruption Monitoring Organization (GRECO), the International Financial Action Task Force (FAFT), the OECD Anti-Corruption Network, and other international organizations and parliaments are also expected to give a legal assessment to the Pandora Papers,” concluded Ibadoghlu.

Human Rights and Liberties. 

Bakhtiyar Hajiyev informed the FB community that, “finally, after a long trial and five extended hearings, the Yasamal District Court considered his complaint against Muradova Ulviya (Alovlu) Niyazgizi under the Articles 147.2 (slander) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code.” Hajiyev added that, “on the basis of his complaint, the Yasamal District Police Office launched a criminal case under Article 221 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code in connection with the fact that Alovlu threw a glass, court phone device and other objects at him in the courtroom at the last court hearing.”  The Yasamal District Court initially tried to conceal the security camera footage, claiming that it was not recorded, but later submitted the footage to police and added it to the criminal case. Hajiyev concluded that “albeit late or difficult, we must take legal action against all those who take our time, energy, damage our nerves, and try to distract us from serious work with their actions, insults, and slanders, which are clearly defined as a crime in the Criminal Code.

Tural Abbasli shared on his FB post that the Kabirli village of the Beylagan region, which has the highest number of martyrs in Azerbaijan, with 300 servicemen taking part in the War (200 servicemen, 100 volunteers) and 1,500 households with 21 martyrs, faces hostile treatment of the government. Abbasli said that the people of the village put aside their grief and fight for the installment of lighting in the graveyard of martyrs. The head of Beylagan executive power does not issue a 300-manat social card to an elderly man with a family of 17 people who voluntarily serve the graves of martyrs. The villagers pay for the lighting of the monument to the martyrs.

Social issues. The Head of APFP Ali Karimli called on his followers to join his call to make the government pay child benefits. Karimli wrote: Does our state have money? Yes. After all the theft and waste, our reserves still exceed $ 51 billion. The profit in this year’s consolidated state budget is more than 3.5 billion manats. Do our people need child money? Yes. More than half of the country’s 2.6 million children grow up in poverty. At least 90 percent of the 2.6 million children are in need of state benefits. If we, as millions of citizens, demand child support from the government, will it work? I’m not saying millions, but if hundreds of thousands of people join this call, the government will have to fulfill this demand. So why not join the demand for child support for our children– younger brothers and sisters- to grow up under normal conditions? Why hundreds of thousands of people do not demand child support?”

Meydan TV reports that depositors of Bank Standard, whose license was revoked exactly five years ago, have not yet been able to get their money back. The former customers of the bank gathered at the Deposit Insurance Fund to demand their money. Protesters say there are 585 people who are still waiting to receive the deposits they made to the bank. Although the reimbursements were made to approximately 10,000 depositors, the rest is still waiting. They are not informed whether their money will be returned or not.

Journalist in exile Afgan Mukhtarli drew the attention of his followers to the issue that the villagers in the Zagatala region are experiencing. According to Mukhtarli, the Pashayevs seized 453 hectares of the drought-stricken Tala village in the Zagatala region and planted flowers and hazelnut orchards. For this purpose, they seized the lands of the vocational school and the pastures of the village. Although the village’s water problem has not been resolved yet, dozens of artesian wells have been drilled for the Pashayev plantations. I am interested in whether the Pashayevs did give money to the municipality for this? If so, what did the municipality do with that money?”

Post War situation.

Journalist in exile Ganimat Zayidov crtisized president Aliyev for his failure in addressing key issues and for taking full credit for the victory in the Second Karabagh War. Zayidov‘s post on FB reads: The regions of Karabakh that were liberated at the cost of the blood of 3,000 martyrs and more than 10,000 veterans are closed to the people, and instead, you opened “a film studio” there. You-husband and wife make “commercials” there to deceive people. A new video clip was shared recently portraying Ilham Aliyev as a great patriot. If he were a patriot, he would not starve people by stealing 100 billion wealth from the nation. It is impossible to deceive people by listening to a song about the Motherland in front of the camera and pretending to be sad. What was the result of your music video? Everyone knows that the words “I can not be satisfied in this world” in the lyrics of the song fully reveal your inner world. And your insatiability in this world is not only your problem but a problem that the entire nation pays for.