Bribery of European delegates to international structures by Azerbaijan discussed in Strasbourg

• Thursday, October 4, 14:08

On sidelines of the PACE Autumn Session in Strasbourg, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) raised and discussed the issue of bribery of European delegates to international structures by Azerbaijani delegations. The bribes aim lobbying Azerbaijan's interests.

A delegate from Germany raised the issue bringing the example of bribery of German parliamentarians by Azerbaijan. The delegate said Azerbaijan has been covering all the expenses of some German delegates, including transport costs and travel expenses, for a long period time. In exchange for that the parliamentarians lobby Azerbaijan's interests and exert pressure on other parliamentarians to push through Baku's stances.  The delegate urged the colleagues to tackle the problem before it is too late.

This week on Wednesday 3 October in the afternoon, a hugely important debate will take place in Strasburg in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).  The Parliament will discuss whether to keep or discard the concept of "political prisoner" when they vote on a report by German Social Democrat Christoph Straesser, Special Rapporteur on political prisoners, on "The definition of political prisoners".