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Azerbaijanâ€™s ruling party: Ali Karimli started benefiting from claims about Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning â€“ INTERVIEW

Azerbaijanâ€™s ruling party: Ali Karimli started benefiting from claims about Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning â€“<font color=red> INTERVIEW </font>

28 August 2012 10:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Parvin Abbasov â€“ APA. Interview with New Azerbaijan Partyâ€™s Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary Ali Ahmadov

- Ex-president Abulfaz Elchibeyâ€™s death as a result of poisoning is being widely discussed in the press. What is the ruling partyâ€™s opinion on this issue?

- I think there is nothing extraordinary in the criminal investigation launched by the prosecutorâ€™s office of Baku concerning Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning. Estimating it as a political order is a nonsense, but nothing. To investigate the claims on attempt on any citizenâ€™s life is a duty of law-enforcement organizations, even after his or her death. The question is about the investigation of the committed or suspected crime. In this case, the assumed victim of crime is an ex-president. It means the investigation of this fact is in the focus of public attention. Such claims concerning any citizen should be investigated. Frankly saying, oppositionâ€™s reaction to the claims about Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning and death is not adequate. Then the prosecutorâ€™s office would have not to consider the official appeal on Elchibeyâ€™s death from poisoning. So opposition is not interested in launching criminal investigation and clarifying these claims and tries to instigate the prosecutorâ€™s office to conceal the crime. I consider that the opposition is unaware of legal activity. It seems they donâ€™t leave their practices to act beyond the law.

Regarding the essence of the issue, I would like to say that the claims concerning Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning are not new. If you read the pro-opposition newspapers of recent years, you can see that those claims were raised by them at first. If earlier the issue was in the level of suppositions by some newspapers, now it demands legal investigation. The issue of Elchibeyâ€™s poisoning and death was officially raised in the prosecutorâ€™s offices, which have to react to it.

- There are political approaches to this issue than legal. What is your opinion on it?

- As I said we canâ€™t consider the behavior of opposition dealing with the above mentioned issue as adequate. These words mostly concern Ali Karimli and his team. It recalls a joke that the cap is burning on deceiverâ€™s head. General Prosecutorâ€™s Office has launched the criminal case dealing with the death of ex-president Abulfaz Elchibey from poisoning on the base of claim and appeal submitted by the chairman of Modern Musavat Party. Currently, the investigation is carried out into the fact that Elchibey died because of poisoning. If this fact is confirmed, the investigation will try to identify the committer of this crime. But Ali Karimli has already become anxious from now for some reasons. I consider it abnormal. I also consider it as a fact of pressure by opposition party on law-enforcement bodies. They think in advance if something to be confirmed in the future, they will make a noise and say that they have already said that the results will be as follows. The process of making pressure on the investigation or its results is considered to be the violation of law. I also donâ€™t exclude that all this actions are the elements of election campaign by Ali Karimli and his surroundings. There is too less time left to 2013. The discussions on appointment of single candidate are carried out by opposition staff. Ali Karimli has already started benefiting from the criminal case on the appeal dealing with Elchibeyâ€™s death from poisoning and to introduce himself as an oppositionâ€™s leader and single candidate. Forcing different people to defend him, he tries to involve them in his election campaign. If Iâ€™m not mistaken, there is a Roman legal principle: who gains profit. If you look very carefully, you will understand that the only person, who intends to gain political dividends from the criminal case launched on death of Elchibey from poisoning, is Ali Karimli.

- The reaction to that this claim was raised by Modern Musavat Partyâ€™s chairman Hafiz Hajiyev before the General Prosecutorâ€™s Office isnâ€™t unambiguous.

- Focusing Hafiz Hajiyevâ€™s personality by the opposition press is an attempt to distract attention from the essence of the issue. Concerning the issue whom Hafiz Haciyev is close to, I have to note that Hafiz Haciyev was the person who had official position during the power of the Peopleâ€™s Front. Ali Karimli, Isa Qambar and others together with Hafiz Haciyev were the members of the same team. They become familiar with each othersâ€™ secrets. Hafiz Haciyev was not represented in the power of New Azerbaijan Party and he is not a member of our team. If you pay attention you will see that Hafiz Haciyev along with his teammates strongly criticizes our power.

It turns out that when Hafiz Haciyev criticizes or slanders the government, he becomes an objective person, the opposition newspapers quote and praise him, but when he criticizes the opposition he is marked as the person of the power. Such approach is a double-standard which is known to everybody in Azerbaijan. Opposition was not given the right to judge the people and their ideas. Nobody is given such right. It is not talked about the personality of Hafiz Haciyev or at what side he is. The question is about the investigation of credibility of claims raised by him before the prosecutorâ€™s office. Oppositionâ€™s nervous reaction to this issue increases suspicions.