In 1992, Margaret Thatcher, then a Conservative peer in the House of Lords, became the first Western leader to visit Azerbaijan. Her trip, taken on behalf of BP, helped the UK oil company to obtain a lucrative oil contract in the Caspian Sea. This marked the start of British influence in Azerbaijan. BP remains the country’s largest foreign investor.
This month Azerbaijan is hosting Cop29, the UN’s annual global climate summit. When first announced last year, there was much concern, not least due to Azerbaijan’s status as a petrostate, but also because of its human rights record. Ranked at 164 of 180 on the Press Freedom Index, the country’s treatment of journalists and activists has been described as “appalling” by Human Rights Watch. According to Amnesty International, the “authorities have intensified their crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly”.
Ahead of the conference, a group of MPs wrote to the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, calling on him to impose “Magnitsky sanctions” on the “unjust detention and persecution of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu”, an academic and activist from the London School of Economics who is under house arrest in Azerbaijan. The letter has the backing of Bill Browder, a US-born British financier and activist, who was closely connected to the development of Magnitsky sanctions. Named after Sergei Magnitsky – a tax accountant who accused Russian officials of stealing $230m in tax rebates, was arrested and subsequently died in prison – these sanctions are imposed on those involved in human rights abuses. Browder extensively lobbied for their imposition on the Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s incarceration.
Magnitsky was Browder’s lawyer. Since his death in 2009, Browder has vigorously campaigned against human rights abuses across the globe. When we met via video call, his commitment was unwavering. He characterises Azerbaijan as a “kleptocracy” and believes the UK should shift its position on the nation. “Russia is now on the blacklist, but nobody’s fussing about Azerbaijan,” he told me, “they do all sorts of nasty stuff. Anybody who says a bad word about them is thrown in prison.”
He described the Azerbaijani presidency of Cop29 – like the United Arab Emirates before it – as “Cop-washing” which, like “greenwashing”, allows these countries to appear more aligned with global climate diplomacy than they truly are. “[These countries] are not legitimate players on the world stage when it comes to human rights,” Browder told me, “but they’re basically buying legitimacy because everyone has to show up and attend their conference.”
Attending the Baku conference, which began on 11 November, is a UK delegation that includes Lammy and Ed Miliband. How does Browder think they should approach the negotiations? “There are political prisoners in Azerbaijan that should be released,” Browder said, “and I think their names should be right out front and centre.” In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 23 October, the European social rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit called for the release of Ibadoghlu, along with Bahruz Samadov – an activist facing treason charges – and several others. The MPs’ letter that received Browder’s backing called on Lammy to raise their plight with his Azerbaijani counterparts while at Cop29. “Just because they’re hosting a climate conference, doesn’t mean you can’t talk about political prisoners and talk about corruption,” Browder said.
For the UK to take a firmer stance internationally, it arguably needs to get its act together at home. At the start of our discussion, Browder pointed to the UK capital’s nickname, Londongrad, a nod to the “dirty Russian money” that has funnelled through it since the fall of the Soviet Union. “They brought their money over here because they knew no one was ever going to ask questions,” Browder said. “This was the go-to place for Russians to keep their illgotten gains.” The war in Ukraine changed that. The government has cracked down on Russian interests in the UK, imposing sanctions on 1,707 individuals and 339 entities. “The war has woken us up.”
But there is still work to do improving the UK’s anti-corruption laws and mechanism. In London in particular, there remain opportunities to hide and keep dirty money – maintaining the city’s status as a “laundromat” for suspicious wealth – especially by channelling it through property. Research by Transparency International suggests that £6.7bn of questionable funding has been invested into the British property market since 2016. Of this, £1.5bn worth of property was bought by Russians accused of corruption or with links to the Kremlin.
“What I have learnt is that sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Browder explained, “if we know what’s going on, who owns stuff, then the changes are that illegitimate people aren’t going to feel as comfortable owning it.”
The state needs to be equipped to deal with these “bad actors” postdiscovery but the situation in the UK’s legal system makes that difficult. Court houses are falling apart and defendants, unable to secure legal aid, must often represent themselves. Public funding for justice in England and Wales declined by 22 per cent in real terms since 2010. Under current legislation, this can prove disastrous for tackling corruption.
As Browder explained: “If the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] or Serious Fraud Office opens a case against a bad actor… and they lose on just a small part of the case… the loser has to pay the winner’s legal fees.” This can create a situation in which the CPS – already on a tight budget – is forced to pay the legal Browder is a vociferous campaigner against dirty money and Russian corruption fees of the individual or entity they are prosecuting. The losers can be represented by “the best KCs in the country”, noted Browder, and end up in a “legal quagmire”. For a service run on a shoestring, expensive cases with likely burdensome fee are off-putting.
Browder wants the new government to rethink the system of prosecution, “a complete change of the rules to make them more consistent with other countries”. He added: “That means eliminating this huge disincentive… by making sure that the CPS doesn’t have to pay the losers fees.”
Is he confident that things will change, now Keir Starmer – himself a former director of public prosecutions – is in charge? “Everybody starts with the best intentions,” Browder said. He seemed pleased with the interest Lammy has expressed in bolstering the UK’s anti-corruption efforts, both before and after the election. “I’ve spoken to him… I know this is something he cares about.” Regardless, Browder will remain resolute – and he certainly won’t back down. “I just hope that [their] best intentions don’t get watered down.”
This article first appeared in our print Spotlight Party Politics Special, published on 15 November 2024.
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