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Gulargate was a 2012–2013 political corruption scandal in Azerbaijan involving civil servants and government officials of various levels, serving in 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 video〔(Attorney 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 outlets〔(Gulargate 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.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gulargate」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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