Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General’s Office has dismissed allegations in The Washington Post article about the murder of the former head of US International Republican Institute (IRI) Baku office.

John Alvis was found dead in his home in Baku in late 2000 with traces of violence on his body.

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that undisputed evidence of the investigation did not prove that Alvis had been murdered over his work.

It said that though Alvis’ killing is more likely to have taken place over his intimacy with persons of non-traditional sexual orientation, Peter Van Praagh, former head of the US National Democratic Institute (NDI) Baku office, who wrote the article, was allegedly unaware of these facts and blatantly distorted them, attempting to convince the newspaper’s readers that Alvis was allegedly murdered over his efforts to promote democratic development in Azerbaijan, the statement said.

The statement also said that no suspects have been detained over Alvis’ murder. A forensic expertise was carried out on the fingerprints of the persons suspected of complicity in the crime and blood samples were sent to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The prosecutor’s office added that Azerbaijan’s law enforcement agencies are ready to continue cooperating with the FBI to disclose the crime.

The article, titled "Azerbaijan needs bipartisan support", noted that John's murder came less than four weeks after the 2000 parliament election. Praagh said that he and John "cooperated with democratic Azeris who were demoralized" after the elections but who were committed, nonetheless, "to continue a struggle to move their country forward". He alleged that for his efforts, Alvis was murdered.

Praagh also maintained that the stabbing of John Alvis raised little public attention, but a decade later, his death remains "a crime deemed unsolved by the FBI".