Gular Ahmadova

Gular Mikayil qizi Ahmadova , ne Aliyeva , is a retired Azerbaijani politician, former member of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and former member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. She gained notoriety in 2012 after a video shot on a hidden camera was released, featuring Ahmadova negotiating a bribe sum with lawyer and fellow party member Elshad Abdullayev to help arrange, among other things, his election to the Azerbaijani parliament. The corruption scandal which ensued became known as Gulargate and led to Ahmadovas stepping down as an MP and later arrest and expulsion from the party. She was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement and failure to report a grave offence, but her prison term was suspendedmonths into the sentence.

Gular Ahmadova was born in Baku, the oldest of the familys four children, but raised chiefly by her grandmother. Ahmadovas father was originally from the village of Nardaran near Baku, while her mother a native of Shamakhy. In 1986, she graduated with honors from the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical Institute with a degree in mathematics. For the next eight years, she worked as a teacher and viceprincipal at various educational institutions. Ahmadova holds a masters degree in psychology. She taught at the Baku State University until her arrest. 1994 marked the beginning of her career as a civil servant when she was employed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan first as a chief training manager, then head of a department and finally head of the administration. In 1996, she became chair of the Childrens Organization of Azerbaijan.

Source: Wikipedia