President Ilham Aliyev has warned government officials against corruption, vowing to step up the fight against this “malady”.“I have said this repeatedly and now want all officials to listen again: The Azerbaijani state will be even more serious, uncompromising and relentless in its fight against corruption and bribery,” Aliyev said in Baku on Dec. 24. “Justice should prevail everywhere, in our lives, families and society.”The president pointed to a purge against corrupt officials at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. “I know, and I am sure you also know that there was a problem with targeted social aid,” Aliyev said. “There was injustice in place. Aid didn’t get to people who needed it… A serious purge has already started. Officials involved in bribery and corruption are being dismissed. I welcome this. The same should happen in all fields. Justice should be and will be for everybody.”Aliyev in October replaced his Labor and Social Protection Minister Fizuli Alakbarov with Salim Movsumov, former head of the State Pension Fund.

He also sacked his longtime defense minister, Safar Abiyev, following protests of non-combat deaths in the army.

ANN.Az