{"id":2453,"date":"2017-04-26T14:37:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T14:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2453"},"modified":"2017-08-09T14:58:50","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T14:58:50","slug":"this-anti-abortion-leader-is-charged-with-laundering-money-from-azerbaijan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2453","title":{"rendered":"This Anti-Abortion Leader Is Charged With Laundering Money From Azerbaijan"},"content":{"rendered":"

By J. LESTER FEDER – BuzzFeed News Reporter, ALBERTO NARDELLI – BuzzFeed News Europe Editor
\nBuzzfeed<\/em><\/p>\n

A former Italian MP who funded social conservative groups in the US and Europe was passing on money from officials close to Azerbaijan\u2019s repressive regime. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luca Volont\u00e8. Photo by Vano Shlamov\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former Italian lawmaker with links to some of the largest social conservative organizations in the US and Europe is under investigation for allegedly accepting millions in exchange for helping muzzle Europe\u2019s top human rights body.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker\u2019s name is Luca Volont\u00e9<\/a>, and until 2013 he led the largest bloc in what\u2019s called the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Since leaving elected office, Volont\u00e9 has been a major player in circles of \u201cpro-family\u201d activists working to build an international movement. He served as the chairman of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute when it hosted a video address inside the Vatican in 2014 by Steve Bannon<\/a>, then Breitbart\u2019s executive chairman and now US President Donald Trump\u2019s top strategist. That year, the World Congress of Families<\/a> lauded Volont\u00e9\u2019s<\/a> work \u201cbuilding organizations and networks which support the natural family\u201d by presenting him with a \u201cFamily and Truth\u201d award<\/a> during its meeting in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

Volont\u00e9 told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview Tuesday that his foundation has granted more than 200,000 euros (about $218,000) to social conservative groups, which he said came from a former lawmaker from Azerbaijan named Elkhan Suleymanov who served with him in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and headed an organization called the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan. Volont\u00e9\u2019s lawyers maintain this funding was a legitimate partnership between NGOs, but Italian prosecutors say it was part of a scheme that funneled 2.4 million euros from interests close to the Azeri government to Volont\u00e9\u2019s foundation and businesses between 2012 and 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI declare myself totally innocent about the charges and the accusations,\u201d Volont\u00e9 said in a second phone interview on Wednesday. He also provided a statement from his lawyers saying the charges of money laundering are \u201cgroundless since the documentation received from Azerbaijan\u2019s general prosecutor shows that money received was not illicit\u201d and that they have \u201cprovided an explanation for the legitimate reasons why Volont\u00e8 has received this money.\u201d The payments were for \u201cfor cultural activities\u201d and had \u201cnothing to do with his functions\u201d in the Council of Europe, his lawyers say.<\/p>\n

Suleymanov did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has in the past called the allegations a \u201cruthless slander and smear campaign against my country” and “part of a broad international conspiracy\u201d in an interview<\/a> with the Azeri outlet APA.<\/p>\n

In a case approved for trial this February in Milan<\/a>, prosecutors allege Volont\u00e9 was paid in exchange for \u201chis support of political positions of the state\u201d of Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe, a body comprising the 47 states that have ratified the European Charter of Human Rights. Specifically, they allege that the Azeri government bought Volont\u00e9\u2019s influence to defeat a 2013 resolution that would have condemned the government for holding political prisoners.<\/p>\n

The Italian court hearing the case tossed out a corruption charge on the grounds that it would amount to prosecuting a lawmaker for a vote cast in his official capacity. But on Tuesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe released a statement<\/a> saying it had agreed on rules for an investigation to be conducted by an independent body of what it called \u201callegations of \u2018corruption and fostering of interests\u2019 made against certain PACE members or former members.\u201d The statement didn\u2019t name Volont\u00e9, but it is the next step in the process begun<\/a> when the allegations were first made public. The commission conducting the investigation won\u2019t have the power to bring legal charges, but will determine if there is evidence to support the allegations.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan has been accused of meddling<\/a> with the council before, and an advocacy group called the European Stability Initiative describes Suleymanov\u2019s association as a \u201ckey instrument\u201d<\/a> in what has become known<\/a> as \u201cCaviar Diplomacy\u201d<\/a> for regularly handing out jars of the delicacy to foreign officials. This time, prosecutors allege they were handing out cash to Volont\u00e9 between 2012 and 2014. Politico reported<\/a> last month that prosecutors believe the money passed from banks in Estonia and Latvia through companies in countries ranging from Scotland to the Marshal Islands before reaching accounts controlled by Volonte.<\/p>\n

Volont\u00e9 told BuzzFeed News that the payments were \u201cprivate and totally different from the Council of Europe discussions.\u201d He said that Suleymanov had pledged to provide 1 million euros annually for a period of 10 years to Volont\u00e9\u2019s Novae Terrae Foundation, which describes its mission<\/a> as promoting \u201chuman life and dignity, natural family, freedom of religion and education.\u201d This made Suleymanov Novae Terrae\u2019s sole donor in 2013 and 2014, but Volont\u00e9 said the agreement was \u201csuspended\u201d in 2014 after Suleymaonov \u201ctold me several times he had some economic problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants support our foundation and developing on human rights too, [and there\u2019s] no reason to refuse so important [a] donation,\u201d Volont\u00e9 said. Politico reported<\/a> that Novae Terrae received monthly payments of 105,000 euros between July 2013 and December 2014 before being shut off.<\/p>\n

Volont\u00e9 said that he worries that the allegations have convinced Suleymanov to delay restarting the payments. \u201cWe hope that we may start again as soon as possible,\u201d Volont\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors believe the payments were for a different purpose. Politico reported investigators obtained emails<\/a> between Volont\u00e9 and Suleymanov that suggested a plan to defeat the 2013 resolution<\/a> entitled \u201con the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan,\u201d which would have condemned the imprisonment of 85 people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The resolution was voted down 125 to 79. The vote was held six weeks after Volont\u00e9\u2019s company, L.G.V., received a payment<\/a> of 220,000 euros, Politico reported<\/a>, which was followed by a consulting contract with Azeri official that prosecutors allege was intended to justify the amount. Volont\u00e9 told BuzzFeed News that this was to consult on a government-backed program managed by Suleymanov\u2019s organization \u201cto develop the image and initiative on cultural school programs and social developments.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2014 interview with BuzzFeed News, Volont\u00e9 said his primary backing was coming through ties with lawmakers in the the Caucasus, the region where Azerbaijan is located, that began during his time in the Council of Europe\u2019s Parliamentary Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the last three years of my political engagement at the European level, I have developed some friendly relations with members of different parliaments, from different religious inspiration. Some of them, especially in the Caucasus region, are especially happy to help to support this work of the foundation,\u201d Volont\u00e9 said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think if we present and prepare and take a good fight and good battle to the Western European countries, supporting and promoting family values \u2014 freedom of religion, freedom of education, and life values, \u2014 they could [stop] aggression by the pro-abortion, pro-gay [forces],\u201d he said, adding, \u201cAlso because they are quite moderate Muslims, and they believe that some values and some aggression of these values in these Western countries are totally catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Volont\u00e9 said in an interview that Suleymanov was in fact Novae Terrae\u2019s sole donor in 2013 and 2014, and the loss of this funding has depleted the organization\u2019s bank account. The group had a staff of 15 people at its peak, but now it is just Volont\u00e9 and a temporary secretary, he said. Volont\u00e9 said that in 2013 and 2014, Novae Terrae issued around 200,000\u2013250,000 euros in grants, but today it is now seeking donations from the groups that it once supported.<\/p>\n

Volont\u00e9 would not name any organizations he\u2019d asked for help, but a cache of internal documents hacked from CitizenGo<\/a> \u2014 an international online organizing platform for social conservatives based in Spain \u2014 included a request for support. Volont\u00e9 sits on CitizenGo\u2019s board, and once contributed 12,000 euros annually to the group, according to invoices in the hacked documents.<\/p>\n

Volont\u00e9\u2019s ties to many conservative organizations means there could be wide-ranging implications for the movement if he were to be found guilty of the corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Harnwell, director of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute where Volont\u00e9 serves as chairman, said the title is honorary and \u201cwe\u2019ll wait until those due processes are completed before responding.\u201d Volont\u00e9 played no role in inviting Bannon to address the conference by Skype in 2014, and the Novae Terrae Foundation only covered catering costs that year.<\/p>\n

CitizenGo President Ignacio Arsuaga did not respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News. Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, who sits on CitizenGo\u2019s board and is now also president of the group that organizes the World Congress of Families, told BuzzFeed News that he believed Volont\u00e9 will be \u201cexonerated completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLuca [Volont\u00e9]\u2019s Novae Terrae Foundation \u2026 does international work and has many different supporters. The fact that they have a supporter in Azerbaijan \u2014 it\u2019s absurd to take the next step and say somehow that affected his votes,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIn my view it\u2019s just a political witch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By J. LESTER FEDER – BuzzFeed News Reporter, ALBERTO NARDELLI – BuzzFeed News Europe Editor Buzzfeed A former Italian MP who funded social conservative groups [more >>>]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-region","category-azerbaijan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453\/revisions\/2454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}