Your trusted source

The Bureau of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) adopted a decision to extend the mandate of the independent investigation body, examining corruption allegations involving high-ranking European politicians and Azerbaijani authorities.
The decision came on Thursday during the PACE Standing Committee session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

As the Head of the Armenian Parliament Delegation to PACE Arpine Hovhannisyan told Panorama.am, the mandate is extended until April 15, 2018.
“By that time, the investigative body will prepare and submit a report to the Bureau and the Assembly,” Hovhannisyan informed.

The body that was set up earlier this year to conduct independent external investigation to identify any practices contrary to the Assembly’s ethical standards and shed light on hidden practices that favor corruption. Later, the Council of Europe’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights urged Azerbaijan to cooperate fully with the investigation, and to start their own independent and impartial inquiry into the allegations.

To remind, in September, a consortium of European newspapers and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published reports https://www.occrp.org/en/azerbaijanilaundromat/ on money laundering and slush fund scheme dubbed the "Azerbaijani Laundromat."  The reports revealed about $2.9 billion laundering scheme operated by the Azerbaijani authorities, which was used to bribe high level EU politicians.