Скачать или смотреть The Hon. David Feeney MP blasts Azerbaijan promoting Senator, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells

On Thursday 19th October the Hon. David Feeney MP rose in Australian Parliament's House of Representatives to blast government Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who after a recent visit to Azerbaijan spoke in favour of the oil-dictatorship's "territorial integrity" when referring to Artsakh. His speech also exposed the Azerbaijani Laundromat saga, which has revealed the "cash for favourable coverage" campaign being run by the Aliyev regime in Western countries.

He said: "In recent weeks leaked data has revealed that Azerbaijan's ruling elite operated a secret $2.9 billion scheme to launder money and pay prominent Europeans, including journalists and politicians."

"This unfolding scandal shows that the Azerbaijani leadership, already accused by Amnesty International and other NGOs of serial human rights abuses, systemic corruptions and rigging elections, made more than 16,000 covert payments from 2012 to 2014 through a network of opaque British companies."

"Investigations led by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project have revealed that these illicit payments, using reputable banks and secret companies, aimed to buy political influence and launder Azerbaijan's international image. Just this week, the ASIO annual report warned that foreign governments have been attempting to shape the opinions of the public and the media in covert influence operations.

Turning to Fierravanti-Wells's contribution to this issue, Feeney added: "New South Wales Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells visited Azerbaijan recently. Upon her return she stated on the public record, 'Australia is a forthright supporter of Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and strongly supports Azerbaijan's position on Nagorno-Karabakh.'"

"This bold statement rewrites Australian foreign policy and disregards Australia's longstanding support of the OSCE Minsk Group peace efforts for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the principles of equal rights and the self-determination of people. I urge the senator to not give in to caviar diplomacy."