Incident

Baku. Hafiz Heydarov – APA. Chief of Interpol National Central Bureau in Azerbaijan Major-General Sahib Mirzayev gives interview to APA

-What about the Interpol action program in Azerbaijan?

- Interpol National Central Bureau in Azerbaijan has extended its activity recently. Interior Minister Ramil Usubov urged all agencies and police offices to work with the Interpol Bureau and to assist in detention of wanted criminals. We are always working to detain and to bring criminals to justice. According to the regulations of Interpol Secretariat except, war, religious and racial crimes, all criminals are wanted via Interpol. 186 countries are Interpol members today. Azerbaijan also joined the Interpol family. Interpol is an agency working for detention of suspects and wanted criminals, locating missing people, identification of bodies and finding stolen cultural, national and historic resources. Interpol Bureau in Azerbaijan was supplied with modern technical equipments, which positively effected on Interpol operations. We can inform the world about the wanted criminal within 10-15 minutes.

-How is relationship between Azerbaijan and other Interpol members?

Azerbaijan is an important country for Interpol and it is represented at the annual assembly of the organization by the interior ministry. We are working with a number of authoritative international organizations. Today Azerbaijan is one of the leading countries in anti-terror war.

-How many applications did Interpol National central Bureau receive in 2009?

- Interpol National Central Bureau in Azerbaijan received 176 applications from the country’s law-enforcement agencies for 170 wanted and 6 missing persons. Interpol located 67 wanted people last year and 14 out of them were detained and extradited to Azerbaijan. Currently 554 people, including 497 suspects and 57 missing, are wanted via Interpol National Central Bureau.

-What measures are you taking for detention of persons wanted by other Interpol member countries?

- We detained 23 out of 26 internationally wanted foreigners and located three others. The National Central Bureau received requests by other countries, including Turkey, Russia and Germany, to identify 931 Azerbaijanis brought to justice. Those people were detained for violation of passport regime, smuggling, trespassing, theft and swindle. We identified their photos and fingerprints and responded the requests of those countries. 41 250 requests were received on carjacking cases and 25 cars stolen in other countries were found in Azerbaijan.

- What measures are taken for detention of Tahir Khubanov and Teymuraz Aliyev suspected in assassination of Monitor’s editor-in-chief Elmar Huseynov?

Interpol National Central Bureau and Interior Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Office located those persons. They are citizens of Georgia and are hiding in that country. According to legislature of some countries, citizens of any country committed crime are not extradited to other country and charged in the country of their citizenship. It can be realized only in the course of legal agreement between the countries. Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies are negotiating this issue with Georgia and I believe Georgia will make final decision soon.

- Rasul Guliyev is also wanted via Interpol. It is known where he is. Why Interpol doesn’t arrest him?

- Someone try to politicize this issue, but police is never involved in politics. Rasul Guliyev is accused in misappropriation of public property. He is in Interpol red notice. We can’t extradite him from the United States because there is no agreement on legal assistance between Azerbaijan and US. I am calling all those wanted people who take refuge in other countries to surrender. It will be in their favor.

- What about extradition of Ayaz Mutallibov and Abdurrahman Vezirov?

- There are same problems with them. They are in the different countries and despite our requests they have not been extradited yet.

- Do you locate Tariel Ramazanov, Javanshir Aslanov and Elchin Dadayev wanted for assassination of Academician Ziya Bunyadov?

- We located all of them and operational measures are taken abroad to detain them. I can’t release their places because of investigative secret. Interior Minister Ramil Usubov is always taking interests in these operations and asking us about it in every meeting. It needs in time to detain and extradite them to Azerbaijan.

- One year has passed since assassination of Lieutenant-General Rail Rzayev. Investigative Group prepared identikit of suspect. What measures does Interpol take for detention of that person?

- The law enforcement agencies of the country and Interpol are doing serious work for that. President Ilham Aliyev is directly controlling the investigation process. I have no authority to give details about the investigation, but I can say that the law enforcement agencies of the country and Interpol are taking serious measures.

- All persons arrested for bloody shooting at the Azerbaijan Oil Academy last April are the citizens of Georgia. Are there persons wanted for this crime still at large?

- No. There is no wanted for that crime. The investigation group of the Interior Ministry and General Prosecutor’s Office conducted very serious operational measures in Georgia and Georgian law enforcement agencies assisted us. All persons accused in the bloody event at the Oil Academy were arrested.

- Are there PKK terrorists detained via Interpol in Azerbaijan?

- We are regularly receiving request by Turkey related to PKK terrorists. We are delivering reports to the relevant law enforcement agencies. I can’t make detailed statement, but I can say that there were PKK terrorists detained in Azerbaijan.

- Armenians committed massacres and terrorist attacks against Azerbaijani people. Some of the persons, committed grave crimes against the Azerbaijanis, are even taking top official posts in Armenia now. Azerbaijan requested Interpol to bring those people to justice. Why Interpol is passive in denouncing of those people?

- Interpol is cautious in some cases. According to the regulations of Interpol Secretariat, persons committed political, religious, racial and war crimes are not wanted by Interpol. There are many Armenians internationally wanted for their crimes and we hope that every of them will go on trial.

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