Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr K. Zarbaliyeva / Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General, Zakir Garalov, stated to journalists on 31 May that he was willing to testify in the trial of the former Economic Development Minister, Farhad Aliyev.
According to Garalov, everyone including the prosecutor is equal before the law. "I am prepared to testify in the trial should I be required by the court," he said.
The Prosecutor-General refused to comment on claims made by Farhad Aliyev regarding a $100,000 bribe demand that had come from employees in the investigation department. He added that such statements negatively affect the trial.
Garalov urged that Aliyev's attorneys and those engaged in protecting Aliyev's rights should not give way to anti-law crimes. During the hearing on 30 May, Aliyev's attorneys appealed for the Prosecutor-General and several ministers to testify at the trial.
The trial involving the former Economic Development Minister, his brother, who is the president of Azpetrol group of companies, Rafik Aliyev, as well as another 17 people, began on 15 May at the Azerbaijani Court on Serious Crimes.
Farhad Aliyev is charged in compliance with Articles 179.3.1, 179.3.2 (misappropriation and squandering), Articles 192.1, 192.2 (illegal entrepreneurship), Article 206.4 (trafficking), Article 213.4 (tax evasion), Article 308.2 (abuse of power), Articles 311.3.1, 311.2, 311.3.3 (bribery) and Article 313 (official falsification of documents) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.