Subject: Fw: Financial Times Commentary January 25, 2016
From: "fariborz fatemi" <[email-masked]>
To: "Fariborz Fatemi" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 09:27:38 +0000 (UTC)

Financial TimesCommentaryFariborz S. Fatemi                                                January 25, 2016 Finally the "chickens have come home to roost" asheadlines reveal the oil boom in Azerbaijan has ended.This means its ability tobuy off the long term simmering discontent of its public with bribery andbrutality has become more difficult. Azerbaijan is a country of beautifulpeople suffering at the hands of a cruel, Soviet-style, authoritariangovernment and bureaucracy that stifles innovation, dissent, the human spiritand where the Soviet ghost, with all its warts, still roams. Yet, mostAmericans would never know this since its government hires high-priced USlobbyists and academics to keep its vicious activities towards its own peopleout of the US media. Witness how little is known about Human Rights activists,journalists,lawyers, and others to name a few that have been threatened andimprisoned to silence their critical voices. Several years ago, I experiencedfirst-hand the corruption and impunity of the Azari bureaucracy. I had totransit through Azerbaijan. All transit passengers were put in a small roomwith only one window open for the transit visa. Waiting in a long line, I wasapproached and offered an expedited process if I paid the "visa fee plus tip." I refused, and ittook almost three hours to get through the visa process. Furthermore, a valuablepackage that I was carrying mysteriously disappeared in this secure area.  Being treated as a visitor in this manner, Ifully understand the predicament of the fighters who are trying to put an endto the corruption and impunity in their country.