ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Wednesday


The Armenian delegation to PACE proposes to annihilate the reports of
those deputies of the Assembly whose names are involved in the
corruption scandal around Azerbaijan.

Yerevan October 11

Tatevik Shahunyan. Armenian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe proposes to cancel the reports those deputies
of the Assembly, whose names are involved in the corruption scandal
involving Azerbaijan.

As the head of the Armenian delegation, deputy speaker of the National
Assembly of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan stated from the PACE rostrum,
the reports prepared by the deputies involved in corruption scandals,
including those involving Baku, can not inspire confidence in the
Assembly delegates, especially if these reports concern Azerbaijan
itself . "Well, how can we trust the report on Azerbaijan prepared by
Alan Deshteks if his name is being discussed in a scandal involving
Baku? What should we do in this case? If the unaccepted reports can
still be revised or canceled somehow, how to deal with the adopted
documents that the Azerbaijani lobbyists themselves prepared for the
sake of Baku? "The Armenian parliamentarian asked.

In this regard, member of the Armenian delegation Naira Zohrabyan
proposed to cancel all reports prepared by the participants of
corruption scandals fueled by petrodollars Baku.

In turn, Transparency International called on PACE to launch tough
anti-corruption measures, including sanctions against corrupt PACE
members, in order to restore confidence in the Assembly in the context
of allegations of corruption and in connection with the resignation of
the chairman. "Transparency International" welcomed this week's PACE
vote on a resolution on strengthening the rules for fighting
corruption, but calls on the organization to quickly address existing
accusations. In the statement, the organization refers to a recently
published investigation, according to which current and former PACE
members received funds to promote Azerbaijan's image abroad.
"Regarding the current and former members of the parliamentary
assembly, which turned out to be financially profitable from
Azerbaijan, an investigation must be conducted, and eventually the
authorities of their countries should take up their duties," said
Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International.

The organization believes that the countries mentioned in the
investigation should begin their own investigations into reports of
political corruption. "Transparency International" also calls on the
Council of Europe to establish a permanent investigative office as an
effective mechanism for disclosing the future of money laundering and
bribery. "The Council of Europe and its member states must also adopt
procedures that would exclude a country that violates integrity rules
and takes bribes," the statement reads