Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Anti-Corruption Department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has launched investigations into 3,194 appeals on corruption cases and studied 281 reports with criminal nature over 2014.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated for nearly 82 percent of the overall appeals, as preventive measures were taken for the rest of the cases, Kamran Aliyev, Deputy Prosecutor General, Head of the Anti-Corruption Department, said at the press-conference on the results of 2014.

Aliyev said the department has also received 584 appeals in regard to the committed or planned crimes in 2014, eleven out of which were brought to law based on the facts on the corruption offenses.

"The number of the citizens’ appeals on corruption facts is reducing in Azerbaijan, which is likely due to the expansion of the number of ASAN Service centers functioning in the country," Aliyev said.

ASAN Service centers are aimed to ensure the services to be rendered in Azerbaijan by the state entities in a uniformed and coordinated manner.

Aliyev added that the hotline of the department has received 4,945 appeals on corruption offenses in 2014.

"About nine and four criminal cases have been filed respectively on the facts of taking and offering a bribe, while 22 cases were initiated on the abuse of authority, 79 cases on embezzlement and misappropriation and 59 cases on swindle in 2014," Aliyev said.

The department ensured the repayment of compensation in the amount of $70,000 to individuals and legal entities, which is about 72 percent of the total damage calculated at $97,000, added Aliyev.

Aliyev went on to say that the Investigation Office of the Anti-Corruption Department has finished studies on 206 criminal cases and delivered them to the courts in 2014.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the employees of social, property, prosecutor, municipality, executive power bodies, as well as education, bank and non-bank organizations and interior, agriculture, communication, culture, healthcare ministries, said Aliyev.

"Investigation Office continues the surveys on 118 corruption crimes and several criminal cases have already been sent to the courts in early 2015," Aliyev added.

According to the International Association of the Anti-Corruption Authorities, the Azerbaijani government launched its anti-corruption efforts in 1994 pursuing a steady course that culminated in the adoption of the first State Program on Anti-Corruption covering the years of 2004-2006.

Modeling on the United Nations Conventions against Corruption, Azerbaijan’s anti-corruption effort is founded on solid legislation enacted through a dynamic institutional framework. The new Strategy on Increasing Transparency and Anti-Corruption covering the years of 2007-2011 aimed at tackling corruption through preventive measures.

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