Azerbaijani police beat activists contesting election results
Some 15,000 opposition activists gathered in the capital, Baku, to protest against the outcome of the November 6 parliamentary elections which they claimed were rigged - the latest in a series of such opposition actions in recent weeks.
But unlike the previous rallies, the demonstrators tried to set up a permanent protest on a square in downtown Baku, triggering a swift police crackdown.
Immediately after opposition leaders said they were going to stage a sitting protest on the square, police rushed to disperse them, beating them with truncheons and pushing them away.
Protesters shouted “Freedom!” and some hurled stones at police, who hid behind shields.
Hundreds of soldiers, police and plainclothes police agents were deployed around the square in order to quash the protest.
The opposition parties originally planned to hold the rally today, but later rescheduled it for Saturday after failing to secure permission from authorities in Baku.
International observers criticised the polls, saying they fell below democratic standards. But Western countries concerned about maintaining stability in the oil-rich Caspian Sea state bordering Iran have not endorsed opposition demands for repeat elections.
Faced with an authoritarian government led by President Ilham Aliev, who succeeded his long-ruling father Heydar Aliev in 2003, the opposition has failed to capitalise on resentment over corruption that has helped keep more than 40% of people in poverty despite the former Soviet republic’s oil wealth.
