Ex-PACE President: Public organizations tried to convince me to accuse Azerbaijan
By Trend
Public organizations were trying to convince me to make some kind of statement in PACE, to accuse Azerbaijan and individual MPs, said in an interview with Ukrainian portal "European truth" ex-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur, commenting on the recent report on corruption in the organization.
She noted that there had been no evidence of widespread corruption in the organization, although that had been the case for a long time.
"I remember well the first report on caviar diplomacy. There were many interesting things, but there was no evidence! And when there is no evidence, you have to be very careful," noted Brasseur.
"Public organizations urged me to make some statement, to accuse Azerbaijan and some MPs. But I refused because it is a very dangerous way," she said.
As previously reported, the independent investigative body (IBAC) investigating the allegations of corruption in PACE in Strasbourg submitted its report to the Bureau of the Assembly. IBAC has not revealed evidence supporting the allegations of Azerbaijan in corruption, and eventually came to the conclusion that neutrality has not been violated in the activities of the PACE related to Azerbaijan, in the work of MPs, in particular rapporteurs of the PACE.
The start of another anti-Azerbaijan campaign in PACE is neither surprising nor coincidental, said Azerbaijani President’s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov while commenting on these charges.
"Circles in the West, consistently and purposefully operating against Azerbaijan, and organizations and media they control are more active on the eve of an important event in our country and make every effort to smear both Azerbaijan and that event. Everyone knows that since early 2018 a number of international events have taken place in Azerbaijan along with other significant events in the life of the country. The April 11 presidential election in Azerbaijan was evaluated by majority of experts as a referendum of trust in President Ilham Aliyev," said Ali Hasanov.
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