Farhad Aliyev

Farhad Shovlat oghlu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: Fərhad Əliyev) is an Azerbaijani politician who was born in 1963 in Alar, a village of Jalilabad district, Azerbaijan. He was removed from post in 2005 and accused of plotting a coup d'etat.

Early life

Farhad Aliyev received his school education at Alar village in 1970-1980. Having completed his secondary education with an honors diploma, in 1980 he received admission to Azerbaijan State Institute of Civil Engineering (ASICE). Farhad Aliyev graduated from ASICE in 1985 and started to work in Jalilabad district. In 1985-87 he served in the Soviet army.

During his education and military service, Farhad Aliyev actively participated in public works. He was elected Deputy Chairman of the Student Union at ASICE and received several awards for exemplary service in the army.

He is married and has two children.

Political career

Besides public activities, Farhad Aliyev worked in several state positions during 1985-1990. At that time he headed a department in the Central Committee of the Youth Organization of Azerbaijan Republic, which played an important role in the political-public life of Azerbaijan.

In 1990-1997 he headed several private companies functioning in the field of tourism, trade, construction, production. He was a member of the Political Council of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party until his arrest.

In 1997 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and after a while–the Minister of Trade. At this post, Farhad Aliyev undertook serious reforms for development of the private sector, simplification of export-import transactions, and liberalization of trade in general.

In 1999-2001, holding the post of Minister of State Property, Farhad Aliyev took several successful steps towards creation of a unified register system of state property, re-vitalization of the functioning of institutions that were opened for privatization, securing transparency in the privatization process, and attracting foreign companies to the privatization process besides Azerbaijani citizens.

In 2001, by a decree of the President of Azerbaijan, Ministries of Economy, Trade and State Property, Committee against Monopolization and for Assistance to Entrepreneurship, and State Agency for Foreign Investments were united in one state organization–Ministry of Economic Development and Farhad Aliyev was appointed the head of the Ministry.

Farhad Aliyev openly criticized monopolies, abuse of power by state officials, the corrupt court system, etc., and emphasized these problems’ being obstacles on Azerbaijan’s state building and development processes.

On the eve of parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, on October 19, 2005, Farhad Aliyev was detained in his office at the Ministry of Economic Development to the Ministry of National Security (MNS). After being kept there for a few hours, he was told that he was dismissed from his post and detained as a suspect with charges on coup d’etat attempt.^[1]

Farhad Aliyev's Case

Farhad Aliyev was sentenced to 10 years in State Penitentiary 2 after serving just under two years of solitary confinement in MNS. In 2010 Farhad Aliyev was proven innocent by the European Court of Human Rights and his release was demanded of the Azerbaijani Government. However various historians and political scientists have stated that his unlawful arrest, and his current imprisonment is boosting his popularity in Azerbaijan.

Amnesty

On October 14th, 2013 Farhad Aliyev and his brother Rafig Aliyev, according to the order of pardon signed by President Ilham Aliyev, were released from custody.

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