Former head of regional forestry centre arrested on charges of taking bribes for leasing forest land

Fizuli Mammadov, who served as director of Regional Forestry Centre No. 7 of the Forest Development Service of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, has been arrested on charges of taking bribes. In the same criminal case, a preventive measure of house arrest has been imposed on forester Vidadi Asgarov.

This was stated in a joint statement by the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources released on 2 November. According to the statement, a criminal case was opened at the Anti-Corruption Directorate under the Prosecutor General on the basis of information received from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.

According to the investigation, there are well-founded suspicions that Fizuli Mammadov and Vidadi Asgarov, acting in collusion in 2025–2026, took bribes of various amounts in return for leasing plots of land in forest areas.

Both men have been charged under Articles 311.3.1, 311.3.2 and 311.3.3 of the Criminal Code (repeated acceptance of a bribe in a large amount by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy). By a court decision, Fizuli Mammadov was remanded in custody and Vidadi Asgarov was placed under house arrest. Asgarov has also been suspended from his post.

The Prosecutor General's Office said the investigation into the criminal case is continuing and that inquiries are under way to establish the full scale of the illegal acts and other persons involved in the case.

Criminal cases on bribery charges against employees of state bodies in Azerbaijan have continued in recent days. On 3 November it was announced that state tax inspector Rufat Aliyev had been arrested in Ganja on charges of taking a bribe from a businessman.