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DE RUEHKB #0328/01 0601425
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O 011425Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9760
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0280
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000328 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: BRITISH HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER PUSHES UK 
ASYLUM PLAN FOR FARHAD ALIYEV 
 
REF: BAKU 258 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Reno L. Harnish III for reasons 1.4b and d. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. In a February 22 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Lord Lester, a British barrister representing jailed former 
Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev, probed USG 
interest in political asylum for Aliyev in the UK. The 
Ambassador eventually declined to support this approach while 
acknowledging that the GOAJ hypersensitivity in this case has 
made it difficult for the international community to engage 
in a robust fashion. Lester reported that Aliyev's wife, 
Sabina, wants the GOAJ to exile Aliyev and the family but we 
have no confirmation Aliyev himself actually wants this. 
Separately, the GOAJ Prosecutor General reports that the 
investigation into Farhad Aliyev's alleged acts of treason 
and ministerial corruption continues apace with the 
possibility that Aliyev will remain 18 months in pretrial 
detention until March 2007 while the GOAJ compiles evidence 
against him. Embassy will continue urging the GOAJ to respect 
the rule of law and protect the human rights of all those 
arrested in October in connection with the alleged coup plot. 
We also ask that DRL Assistant Secretary Lowenkron raise this 
issue during his visit to Baku. End Summary. 
 
LESTER PRESSES CASE FOR ASYLUM, CITES PERSONAL CONNECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In his second visit to Baku since agreeing to help 
accused ex-Minister Farhad Aliyev in December, Lord Lester of 
Herne Hill told the Ambassador February 22 that his close 
personal ties to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and 
Home Secretary Chester Clark would enable him to quickly and 
easily obtain the British Government's approval for granting 
asylum status to Farhad Aliyev. After speaking with Aliyev's 
local lawyers and his wife Sabina, Lester concluded that 
exile to the UK appeared to be best course of action because 
a claim before the European Court of Human Rights would 
likely take four to five years to come to fruition. Moreover, 
Lester noted, Sabina Aliyeva is now making unilateral 
decisions for her family while her husband remains in jail 
and is unwilling to wait out the judicial process by sitting 
around in Azerbaijan under constant GOAJ scrutiny. (While 
Fahrad Aliyev's Azerbaijani lawyers have had continued access 
to him at the MNS, neither Sabina Aliyeva nor Lord Lester has 
been allowed to visit Aliyev at the MNS. According to Lester, 
Aliyev is unaware that his wife has decided to pursue an 
exile/asylum strategy. Separately, for the third time since 
November, Sabina Aliyeva canceled a meeting with Post's Human 
Rights Officer.) 
 
¶3. (C) Lester said that British Ambassador Bristow was 
considering the exile/asylum strategy and that Bristow was 
investigating a formal asylum request to the FCO on Aliyev's 
behalf. Lester told Ambassador Harnish that he wanted to know 
if the USG might endorse this strategy. Lester specifically 
asked the Ambassador to join Ambassador Bristow in convincing 
the GOAJ leadership to exile Farhad Aliyev and his family 
while he prepared the groundwork for asylum in the UK with 
Straw and Clarke. Two days later Ambassador Bristow told 
Ambassador Harnish that the Home Office had instructed the UK 
Embassy not to advocate the asylum strategy with the GOAJ 
leadership. 
 
¶4. (C) At a meeting on February 24 with the British 
Ambassador, the Ambassador stated that the USG would advocate 
the human rights of all/all the detainees arrested in 
connection with the alleged coup plot. The USG would continue 
to urge the GOAJ to conducte a legitimate, fair and 
transparent trial consistent with international standards. 
 
PROSECUTOR REPORTS PRE-TRIAL DETENTION MAY LAST ANOTHER YEAR 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (C) Separately, in a February 24 meeting with Poloff, 
First Deputy Prosecutor General Rustam Usubov reported that 
the GOAJ was building a "strong case" against Aliyev premised 
on "credible" evidence of his plotting to overthrow the 
government and widespread corruption within the Ministry of 
Economic Development. Usubov indicated that the Ministry of 
Finance was auditing the MED's accounts under Aliyev's tenure 
to obtain evidence of wrongdoing by the ex-Minister. Brimming 
with confidence, Usubov stated that Aliyev and his 
co-conspirators would be successfully convicted of the crimes 
for which they were charged. 
 
¶6. (C) Usubov also told Poloff that Aliyev could be held in 
pre-trial detention until March 2007 because the criminal 
code was amended in 2005 to permit detainees to be held up to 
18 months after arrest in pretrial detention. Usubov noted 
 
that Aliyev was being well treated with unfettered access to 
his local lawyers. (The GOAJ has previously turned down 
Lester's visitation request because Azerbaijani law only 
permits members of the local bar to visit clients in jail.) 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (C) Embassy will press the GOAJ to respect the rule of law 
and protect the human rights of all the alleged coup plotters 
through a fair and transparent judicial process. We will 
continue to deliver this message to all levels of the GOAJ 
and recommend DRL A/S Lowenkron consider doing so during his 
April visit. 
HARNISH