Gulargate was a 2012–2013 political corruption scandal in Azerbaijan involving civil servants and government officials of various levels, serving in positions as high as the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and the Presidential Administration. It flared up on 25 September 2012 after Azerbaijani lawyer and former university rector Elshad Abdullayev (now residing in France) posted a hidden camera video on YouTube showing his meeting with Member of Parliament Gular Ahmadova negotiating a bribe to secure a seat in the National Assembly for Abdullayev in the 2005 parliamentary election. The scandal widened after a series of similar videos involving other officials and other cases of corruption were posted by Abdullayev at later dates, followed by sackings, arrests and deaths of some of those who appeared in the videos.Corruption as a threat to the Rule of Law. Report by the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. AS/Jur (2013) 19.
The name "Gulargate" derives from the first name of now former MP Gular Ahmadova who appeared in the very first video. It was coined by Azerbaijani media on the day following the release of the first videoAttorney General Investigating Gulargate Scandal . Radio Liberty. 26 September 2012. by analogy with the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. The term was later republished and used by English-language media outletsGulargate Grows as Ahmadova Threatens Ruling Party Members with Revelations. Azeri Report. 14 October 2012. and in the corruption report of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. Despite the term coinage, most videos are related to the kidnapping of Elshad Abdullayev's brother Mahir Abdullayev and not to Gular Ahmadova.
Background Elshad Abdullayev, who holds a doctorate degree in jurisprudence, had been known as the rector of the Azerbaijan International University which functioned from 1997 to 2010 and for the last four years was a focus of investigation of the Attorney General's Office over reported cases of corruption and illegal student admission.Ministry of Education Shut Down Azerbaijani University. Day.az. 1 September 2010. In 2003, Abdullayev's older brother Mahir Abdullayev, an officer of the Ministry of State Security, was kidnapped, and a state investigation which linked his disappearance to the criminal activity of the gang led by Haji Mammadov did not yield any results.
In 2005, Elshad Abdullayev ran as a candidate from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party for a seat in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. The results in the Binagadi II constituency which he wished to represent were announced as void and a by-election was scheduled for 2006.In By-Elections New Azerbaijan Party to Run with 5 Candidates. Day.az. 3 March 2006. However, after being found guilty of bribing potential voters during his campaign, Abdullayev was stripped of his candidacy.Elshad Abdullayev's Candidacy Annulled for Voter Bribery. Day.az. 29 April 2006. Abdullayev, who believed he had in fact won, later blamed "certain powers" who allegedly did not wish for him to find out the truth behind his brother's kidnapping; the information he believed he could have accessed, had he been elected in the parliament.Elshad Abdullayev Released New Feature Video . 4 October 2012. According to him, he had managed to collect information about a "gang of criminals" related to the kidnapping and submitted it to the Ministry of National Security and the Attorney General's Office in 2008 and 2009.Elshad Abdullayev Claims Being Threatened. Radio Liberty. 29 September 2012.
In a 7 December 2012 interview to Radio Liberty, Abdullayev said he had been forced to abandon his plan to win a seat in the parliament back in 2006 under pressure from the Presidential Administration. Abdullayev had allegedly been told that the US Embassy demanded from the government of Azerbaijan that an opposition party candidate be given a chance to win a seat. Since the Musavat party leader Isa Gambar, according to Abdullayev's recount, "could not be let into the parliament", the choice fell on Arzu Samadbeyli who ran from Abdullayev's constituency representing Musavat. The US Embassy in Azerbaijan denied these allegations.Ramiz Mehdiyev's Verbal Duel with Elshad Abdullayev. Radio Liberty. 7 December 2012.
Video postings In September 2012, Elshad Abdullayev appeared with a statement, saying that back in 2005 he had paid 2,000,000 US dollars' worth of a bribe requested from him by the state officials in return for finding his kidnapped brother and securing for Elshad Abdullayev himself a seat in the government in the upcoming parliamentary election. Abdullayev claimed to have paid it to the head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and that Member of Parliament Gular Ahmadova served as the intermediary. Abdullayev alleged the officials never acted on the agreement and did not return his money. Following these statements, Ahmadova accused Abdullayev of slander.A Video Accusing MP Gular Ahmadova Released. Radio Liberty. 25 September 2012.
In response, Elshad Abdullayev posted his first footage on YouTube on 25 September 2012. The video featured himself, Member of Parliament Gular Ahmadova and her friend Sevinj Babayeva, sitting in an office and discussing events around the 2005 parliamentary election. Ahmadova is heard mentioning a prior arrangement made with Abdullayev and promising him a seat in the government in return for money. Abdullayev offers US$500,000, but Ahmadova insists that he pay US$1,000,000. During the conversation, Abdullayev attempts several times to get Ahmadova to mention Ramiz Mehdiyev as the eventual collector of the bribe, but she never explicitly confirms that.
The video caused a major uproar in the local media. Ahmadova first claimed the video was a hoax and refused to make any further comments on it. She later admitted being in the video, but said the money discussed in fact referred to the restitution sum that Abdullayev had owed students of his defunct university and that Ahmadova pressured him to give her that money, so she would redistribute it among them accordingly.Rashad Rustamov. Lawyers Doubting Attorney General's Arguments . Zerkalo. 1 May 2013. She voluntarily resigned as Member of Parliament, so as not to "hinder the investigation".Gular Ahmadova Revoking Parliament Membership. Radio Liberty. 28 September 2012.CEC Voted on Gular Ahmadova Thus. Radio Liberty. 4 October 2012. Despite this, she came under fire of offensive criticism from fellow members of the New Azerbaijan Party and felt the need to address herself to the President (the head of the party) in order for the insults to stop. Abdullayev said he was receiving threats after publishing the video.
Abdullayev released another video on 6 October 2012, in which Gular Ahmadova is heard talking about various high-ranking government officials compiling lists of MP candidates which they would like to see in the National Assembly following the election. Among those in charge of compiling these lists, she mentions Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev, Minister of Health Ali Insanov (both arrested on the eve of the 2005 election for planning a coup d'état and sentenced to imprisonment), Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov, head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev, President Ilham Aliyev, and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. Sevinj Babayeva confirms this in the video, which together with the first video appears to be a fragment of a single conversation. In the video, Gular Ahmadova also warns Abdullayev that there have been cases of "letting in MPs who would go on working with Ali Insanov and Hajibala (sic), so this time those MPs would not be let in".Another Gular Ahmadova Video Published. Radio Liberty. 6 October 2012.
In the next video released on 21 October 2012, Abdullayev is seen with someone who calls himself Rovshan Abbasguliyev, a Ministry of Internal Affairs employee in the Seventh Division responsible for secret services. It is mentioned that there has been no progress in finding Mahir Abdullayev. The alleged Ministry employee admits that Mahir Abdullayev is kept in the Head Department against Organized Crime and that it is a normal practice for the department to "catch a person, shove them into a car and then notify their [family] that they're in the department". In the video, Elshad Abdullayev also inquires into the possibility of having his nephew hired by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The employee says this is possible for a bribe of 10,000 to 15,000 AZN.Another Secret Video Published. Radio Liberty. 21 October 2012."This Is an Outrage; MIA Must Provide Explanation". Radio Liberty. 22 October 2012.
An Interior Ministry official Ehsan Zahidov confirmed that Rovshan Abbasguliyev indeed worked for the Seventh Division but was fired in 2008 for "serious violations of the work code". Zahidov noted that statements of a fired employee cannot possibly cast shadow on the Ministry or the Minister. Nevertheless, he promised that the issue would be looked into in light of the new evidence.
In early November 2012, three people were arrested with regard to Mahir Abdullayev's case, among them former assistant of the First Deputy of the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Vagif Huseynov and businessman Arzu Kazimov. It was announced that these two had received a total of almost US$4 million from Elshad Abdullayev after promising to help him find his kidnapped brother.Three People Arrested in Relation to MSS Officer's Disappearance. Radio Liberty. 7 November 2011.
In the fourth video, which Abdullayev released on 18 November 2012 and dated 2007, he is shown talking with a person who claims to be then chief justice of the Narimanov rayon court Aghababa Babayev. The latter promises "assistance" to Abdullayev in finding his brother.Investigation Started with Regard to Judge in Abdullayev's Video. Radio Liberty. 28 November 2012. Babayev did not deny having a conversation with Abdullayev, but alleged he had not said some of the things heard in the video and that the video must have been edited.Elshad Abdullayev Turns from Parliament to Court. Radio Liberty. 18 November 2012.
The fifth video came on 14 December 2012, where Abdullayev is having a conversation with Gular Ahmadova's friend Sevinj Babayeva alone. The video is said to have been made in the aftermath of the 2005 parliamentary election. Babayeva reveals to Abdullayev that following a phone call from Gular Ahmadova, Ramiz Mehdiyev arranged for police groups to arrive at her constituency and "take measures" to secure her victory and that this was done immediately. Babayeva also told Abdullayev not to worry, as she "saw [Ramiz Mehdiyev] accepting the money with her own eyes" and that Mehdiyev has the final say in whatever happens.Elshad Abdullayev's New Video Clarified 2005 Election. Radio Liberty. 14 December 2012.
Commenting on this, Gular Ahmadova's former opposition rival Eldar Namazov confirmed that in 2005 the police had attacked his observers in four polling stations and destroyed their protocols. The next day, they did the same at six more polling stations, according to Namazov, which allowed Ahmadova to announce her victory.