EX-HEALTH MINISTER'S TRIAL RIFE WITH ALLEGATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAKU 000300 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KDEM KCOR AJ SUBJECT: EX-HEALTH MINISTER'S TRIAL RIFE WITH ALLEGATIONS OF MASSIVE CORRUPTION Classified By: Ambassador Anne Derse for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The trial of former Health Minister Ali Insanov and ten other former Health Ministry officials began February 15 in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. Insanov was arrested, along with several other GOAJ officials, in October 2005 on charges of corruption and of fomenting a coup. In February 2007, the GOAJ separated Insanov's prosecution into two trials, beginning with a trial exclusively on allegations of official corruption and embezzlement and leaving open the question of whether and when there would be a prosecution on the coup charges. Local commentators believe that the corruption charge is likely to stick since Insanov was reputed to be among the most corrupt GOAJ officials; they also believe the coup plot charge to be weak at best. Prosecutors allege that Insanov embezzled billions of dollars worth of state assets which he passed to family members and used to control and profit from the health system. Insanov has sought to portray himself in court as a victim of GOAJ internal politics, and calls himself a political prisoner who now belongs to the opposition, a characterization the opposition rejects. So far, the judicial proceedings have been of a higher standard than most court proceedings. An early flap over media access appears to have been resolved, with the press allowed to enter in groups divided between the morning and afternoon trial sessions. End Summary. CORRUPTION FIRST...COUP LATER? -------------- ¶2. (C) The trial of former GOAJ Health Minister Ali Insanov began February 15 in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. Insanov was arrested in October 2005 on separate charges of corruption and of plotting a coup along with former Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev, AzPetrol Chairman Rafiq Aliyev, and several other lower ranking government aides. Insanov has been in pretrial detention since October 2005 and remains in GOAJ custody. During the pretrial detention period, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) often alleged that it had uncovered widespread multimillion dollar corruption within the state health apparatus for which it believed Insanov responsible. (Insanov was widely believed to be among the most corrupt Azerbaijani officials, responsible, in the view of many, for running the health system into the ground.) ¶3. (C) In early February 2007, two months shy of the legally permissible 18-month period of pretrial detention, the PGO announced that it would separate the charges against Insanov into two criminal proceedings: first, it would prosecute Insanov on corruption and embezzlement, and second, it would later consider whether and when to prosecute Insanov for the alleged coup plot. The GOAJ decision to split the case prompted widespread speculation about Insanov's future. Local commentators say that while Insanov's conviction on corruption charges is a virtual certainty, the case against him (and the others who remain in pretrial detention) for alleged coup-plotting is probably weak, which contributed to the GOAJ's decision to go forward with the corruption case first. Some human rights monitors speculate that the GOAJ will simply not prosecute Insanov on the coup plot charges at all once it has obtained a conviction on corruption; they believe the GOAJ approach to the Insanov case could also set a precedent for Farhad Aliyev's judicial proceedings. TEN DEFENDANTS, A FAIRER TRIAL -------------- ¶4. (C) Trial proceedings in the Insanov case have been noticeably more professional than in other recent high profile cases, such as the Yeni Fikir trial, which took place in the same small courtroom last year. In addition to Insanov, there are ten other defendants on trial at the same time, all former Ministry of Health (MOH) officials accused of participating in Insanov's corruption schemes. However, only Insanov remains in detention during the trial proceedings. The ten defendants are: former MOH pharmacology chief Akif Maharramov, former chief of the MOH international relations department Aleksander Umnyashkin, former medical services chief Vekil Abbasov, and lower ranking MOH officials Eldar Rzayev, Haji Aliyev, Shovghi Jafarov, Anar Namazov, Fuad Mahmudov, Fakraddin Abbasov, and Parviz Kasimov. Insanov has been represented in court by prominent defense attorney Agaveyis Shahverdiyev. Seated near the bench wearing a business suit and no tie, Insanov appears healthy if somewhat despondent and has actively responded to the court's queries and advocated vigorously on his own behalf. INSANOV'S HOUSE OF CARDS -------------- BAKU 00000300 002 OF 003 ¶5. (U) The court took three sessions to read aloud the myriad charges against the eleven defendants, owing to their length, detail and complexity. Insanov's lawyer, Shahverdiyev, began his defense by moving to have the presiding judge Faig Gasimov dimissed from the case on grounds that he lacked impartiality. The entire trial proceeing was sidelined for several days while this mater was adjudicated. Shahveridyev lost this appea and the trial itself resumed on February 23. 6 (U) Testifying before the court, Insanov claimed hat during GOAJ inspections of his homes and proerty, investigators had found no evidence that hehad embezzled state funds, although the PGO alleged that millions of dollars in cash had been found in one of his houses. Insanov said that he had wasted his income for over 12 years as Health Minister on financing the Yeni Azerbaijan Party (YAP) which had now turned on him. The state prosecutor, Kamran Aliyev, alleged that Insanov had transferred state property and assets to members of his family, specifically to his son, daughter, nephew and niece totaling over three billion dollars (a claim even Insanov's most ardent critics believe to be exaggerated). The transferred properties are alleged to have included three public hospitals Insanov privatized, four "polyclinics," one medical institute, a pharmacology center, a pharmacy, and several hundred acres of public land that he used for private real estate development. ¶7. (SBU) The prosecutor also alleged that Insanov ordered 1,077 students who had failed medical school entrance exams to "be passed" - presumably because of bribes. Some of the other defendants were called to testify against Insanov and they told the court about how the ex-minister and health ministry officials divided up the take from bribes and contract kickbacks in return for the minister's continued patronage. INSANOV STRIKES BACK -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In response to these allegations, Insanov asked for former Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev to testify about Insanov's management of state privatization activities in the 1990s because Aliyev was then the chair of State Property Committee. (It seems unlikely that the court will honor this request.) Insanov also apologized to the political opposition for vilifying them while in office and suggested that he was now a member of the political opposition, a suggestion Musavat party chairman Isa Gambar publicly dismissed. Insanov also said that he was a political prisoner, "a victim of others' intrigues" and should be treated as such by the international community. At one point, Insanov said that he would "expose the government's secrets, and the secrets of the Prosecutor General's Office." Adding an unexpected element of public interest to the trial, the Union of the Return to Western Azerbajian (a group claiming to represent the clan from which Insanov originates) released a statement indicating that it would work for Insanov's release, and would organize protests if necessary in the future. ¶9. (U) YAP officials responded to Insanov's charges in a press statement which said that Insanov was just trying to "cover up his crimes" and that "YAP ensures transparency by making its financial sources public." YAP Deputy Secretary Novruzov has gone to great lengths to attack Insanov in the press every few days, calling him a liar and a cheat and a crook. MEDIA ACCESS FLAP APPARENTLY RESOLVED -------------- ¶10. (U) The courtroom has been overflowing since the trial began, largely with the family and friends of the eleven defendants. Since the courtroom can only fit roughly fifty persons, it quickly reaches capacity with a dozen court marshals, outside observers and the press. On the first few days of the trial print and electronic media were allowed into the courtroom to take photos and film the proceedings. On February 27, the court's bailiffs denied several opposition and independent affiliated members of the press access to the courtroom, citing space considerations. Some of the affected news organizations - Azadliq newspaper, Yeni Musavat, and Gundelik Azerbaijan wrote articles vilifying the GOAJ for denying access to the press and nine newspapers filed suit to obtain access to the court room. In response, court officials said that there were too few seats in the room to allow all the journalists inside. However, it appeared that bailiffs had removed one bench from the court, reducing the space available to observers. BAKU 00000300 003 OF 003 ¶11. (C) In response to the ensuing media uproar and the pending lawsuit, GOAJ Presidential Advisor Ali Hasanov told reporters March 5 that he was certain that there was no malicious intent behind the denial of access and promised to resolve the situation. The following day the court began rotating media coverage of the proceedings and admitted one group of prit reporters for the morning session and another roup for the afternoon session, an action lauded b the papers. However, no electronic media filmedthe March 6 proceeding although it was not knownwhether this was coincidental. Embassy will contiue to monitor the trial and report developments s appropriate. DERSE