Two former members of the German parliament, know as the Bundestag, are facing charges of bribery in connection with what is called the “Azerbaijan affair.”
According to a judicial spokesman, the court has accepted the charges brought by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office without any changes, and the proceedings are set to begin on January 16, the Münchner Merkur Zeitung reported.
The two lawmakers accused of taking bribes from Azerbaijan deny the allegations
One lawmaker Axel Fischer is suspected of bribery and the other, Eduard Lintner, is suspected of bribing elected officials. The aim of the payments was to influence decisions in Azerbaijan’s favor in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
According to investigators, Lintner, who served in the Bundestag for 33 years and in the PACE until 2010, is said to have received “multiple millions of euros through 19 foreign letterbox companies” through two companies up until 2016.
He is said to have passed some of this money on to other lawmakers who were supposed to influence decisions in Azerbaijan’s interest. Fischer, who was active as European Partnership for Peace parliamentary group leader in the PACE from 2010 to 2018, is said to have given positive speeches in the interests of Azerbaijan and passed on confidential documents at an early stage. In return, he is said to have received a bribe of 21,800 euros in 2016.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the charges relate to payments made since September 2014. Since then, influencing the activities of members of the parliamentary assemblies of international organizations such as PACE has been a criminal offense in Germany.
Investigations lasted several years.
The Higher Regional Court has also allowed charges to be brought against two other defendants. The Attorney General’s Office accuses them primarily of aiding and abetting, for example by making contact or processing payments. Another former lawmaker, who was also under investigation in the meantime, has died.
The investigation had dragged on for years. There had already been searches at Lintner’s home in 2020, and the following year the Federal Criminal Police Office searched Fischer’s office in the Bundestag.
