The rallies will continue, the opposition (UPDATED)

The leader of the National Council, Jamil Hasanli, noted corruption as the main sign of the anti-people nature of the authorities. "The country the territories of which have been occupied, billions go to offshore. If the authorities are busy with this, can they think about the liberation of the occupied territories? Of course not," he said. He further noted that this is not the last rally of the opposition against the usurpation of power by the ruling regime. "We continue the struggle for free elections, our rallies will be continued," he said.

The head of the Musavat Party, Arif Hajili, in his speech stressed that his party is also against early elections, because they do not mean the free expression of the will of the people. "There is no environment of fair political competition in the country, electoral commissions under the control of the authorities, it was these commissions who falsified the previous elections," he said.

Member of the National Council Gultakin Hajibeyli accused the authorities of violating the rights of pensioners and poor citizens. These sections of the population suffer most from corruption and the government's thoughtless economic policies.

All the disgruntled authorities are declared enemies of the country and repressed. This is how a whole army of political prisoners appeared in the country, she noted.

The remaining speakers expressed a demand to release political prisoners, stop harassment of relatives of political prisoners and put an end to the harassment of the opposition, which the authorities are portraying as traitors, spies and the fifth column of foreign states. According to the organizers, 10,000 people took part in the rally. There was not any serious clashes with the police during the rally. -06B-

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2018 March 10 (Saturday) 15:59:36

Ali Kerimli: This power must leave the political scene (UPDATED)

Speaking at the rally, the leader of the Popular Front party, Ali Kerimli, spoke about the attempts of the authorities to disrupt the conduct of the action by any means. "Only PFPA members were administratively arrested 8 people, three of them are members of the meeting committee," he said. The members of the Musavat party were also subjected to pressure and arrests, added Kerimli.

The protesters gathered to express their protest against the usurpation of power by Ilham Aliyev, who by way of falsifications and the laws and the constitution, wants to prolong his reign by another 7 years.

"If we remain silent all the time, he will give himself power for life. But this regime should not think about extending the government, but about how to pack suitcases and leave the stage," Kerimli said.

The leader of the Popular Front Party accused the government of Ilham Aliyev of the fact that over the 15 years of his rule he could not solve any problem of the country. "They only contributed to the growth of poverty in a country rich in natural and human resources. All this was due to the immense corruption and violations of the rights of ordinary citizens, it is against this we are protesting," Kerimli stressed.

In conclusion of his speech, he urged the authorities to take into account the sad experience of other dictators who could not use the stolen from the people. "The $16 billion by Gaddafi that was collected in Western banks, did not guarantee him well-being and security. Let our government take into account these lessons of history," Kerimli concluded. -06D-

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2018 March 10 (Saturday) 15:16:55

Opposition rally against corruption and violations of rights

Baku / 10.03.18 / Turan: At 15:00 at the stadium "Mehsul" in Yasamal district of the capital has begun an opposition rally sanctioned by the authorities with the participation of the members of the National Council, the Popular Front Party and "Musavat". Several thousand people take part in the action. In the area where the rally was held, the authorities turned off the Internet to prevent the live broadcast of the action in social networks. -02D-