A criminal case was initiated against officials who blackmailed farmers with water

In Azerbaijan, criminal cases have been initiated against officials who illegally restricted access to water for farmers in the regions, haqqin.az reports.

The Main Department for Combating Corruption under the Prosecutor General, based on the analysis of numerous appeals from citizens from certain regions, carried out urgent operational and search activities in connection with the identified illegal cases.

According to the information, grounds for suspicion were identified that the representative of the head of the executive power of the Shamkir district in the administrative-territorial district of the village of Chinarly – the chairman of the board of the Water Users Association “Adzhi Arkh” Abbasov Elchin Ismail oglu during 2021-2022 massively offered the territory of this settlement to persons to organize irrigation of sown areas in their use, at 500 manats per hectare of land.

Elchin Abbasov was charged under Articles 308.2 (abuse of power with grave consequences) and 311.3.2 (repeated bribery) of the Criminal Code within the framework of the criminal case, and a measure of restraint in the form of detention was chosen against him by a court decision.

In addition, a criminal case was initiated against officials of the Neftchala district association of water users “Bereket”, “Garavelli” and others, as well as the department of the Neftchala irrigation systems on a similar fact related to demanding money from land users and causing damage to farms.

Investigation is ongoing in both criminal cases in order to determine the full circle of the accused, the victims, as well as the amount of damage caused to the farms.

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