On 1 May, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appointed Kamran Aliyev as the country’s new Prosecutor General after Zakir Garalov’s term expired. At his appointment, President Aliyev highlighted the need to reform the law enforcement bodies as well as combating corruption and bribery in the country. 

“First of all, the rule of law must be fully ensured, as it is the most important condition for building a fair society. Unfortunately, we have not fully achieved what we wanted yet, including the fact that some decisions made by law enforcement agencies run counter to law, violate social justice, cause fair discontent among people and eventually cause great harm to our common cause”, Aliyev said. “Another important task is the fight against corruption and bribery. I have repeatedly spoken out on this issue. I have warned all government officials and even said that if a government official is unable or unwilling to make changes to his work, then he should leave civil service of his own accord,” he added. 

Aliyev also emphasized that the heads of the executive authority of Aghstafa, Bilasuvar, Yevlakh, Neftchala districts have already been arrested and tasked the new Prosecutor General to broadly analyze the work in the four districts. 

A few days after Kamran Aliyev’s appointment, on 4 May, the Prosecutor General’s Office in Azerbaijan carried out operations in three districts to reveal irregularities related to the violation of the special quarantine regime as well as irregularities during the distribution of food aid. The Prosecutor General's Office reported that it has revealed irregularities by six administrative territorial representations in Sabirabad, Agjabadi and Tartar districts after receiving appeals from the district executive authorities.

It was revealed that Mehman Jafarov, a representative of the Sabirabad District Executive Power in Ulacali village administrative territory, and Igbal Aliyev, a representative of the district in Guruzma village administrative territory, committed violations while distributing food aid sent by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and also illegally issued certificates to those who wanted to move freely, violating the rules of the quarantine regime. Furthermore, Imran Hasanov, the representative of the head of the Executive Power of Agjabadi region in Pariogullar village, Mazahir Amirahov, the representative of Aran village and his deputy Allahverdi Huseynov have been accused of committing fraud through abusing their positions and power. They knowingly added false information for references and made it possible for different people to leave the district area, violating the rules of special quarantine regime. Shahid Mammadov, the representative of the Head of the Executive Power of Tartar region in Mamirli village, committed a similar violation. All six officials have been dismissed and criminal proceedings have been launched against them in their respective districts.

On May 5, the State Security Service launched an operation in the Imishli region. According to a source in the prosecutor’s office, the State Security Service officers entered the building of the executive branch, blocking entrances and exits. According to unofficial data, the district leadership was detained.

Earlier, on April 30, head of Executive Authorities of Bilasuvar District Mahir Guliyev was arrested for four months on embezzlement, abuse of power and bribery charges, consequently. Mahir Guliyev was dismissed from the post of head of the Bilasuvar district Executive Power upon presidential decree on the same day.