Police detained more than 80 protesters in central Baku ( Reuters )
- Want to say
- 19 October 2019, 21:53
- 37
Azerbaijan police detain scores of protesters, including opposition party leader"
Police in Azerbaijan on Saturday detained scores of protesters, including the leader of the main opposition Popular Front, at the start of a planned rally against low salaries, corruption and a lack of democracy in the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.
The protesters have a wide range of demands, including higher salaries for state employees and fair and independent elections in a country long accused by human rights groups and Western governments of a lack of transparency.
Popular Front leader Ali Kerimli told reporters before his own detention that some 50 people, mostly organisers of Saturday's unauthorised rally, had already been detained earlier in the week.
"We demand our constitutional rights and freedoms to be protected," Mr Kerimli said. "We are not afraid of this government and we will fight till the end."
Police detained Mr Kerimli soon after he began walking to the venue of the protest rally in central Baku. More than 80 other protesters were detained after him, a Reuters witness at the scene said.
The deputy head of the Baku police, Sakhlab Bagirov, confirmed to Reuters that some people had been detained, but declined to provide a number.
Police also cordoned off several streets in central Baku, a couple of metro stations were temporarily shut and there were problems with internet connection.
Azerbaijan has been governed by President Ilham Aliyev since 2003 when he succeeded his late father.
Western nations have courted Azerbaijan because of its role as an alternative to Russia in supplying oil and gas to Europe, but various European bodies and rights groups have accused Mr Aliyev of muzzling dissent and jailing opponents, charges Baku denies.
Reuters
-
- Photo sessions
- 19 October 2019 21:02
-
- Politics
- 19 October 2019 23:43
Want to say
-
In Baku, the bustling capital of Azerbaijan, the taxi industry is both an important part of the city's transport network and an important source of employment. According to the Ministry of Information Technology and Transport, there are currently 28,000 taxi drivers working in the city.
-
A third person with ties to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s bribery case has pleaded guilty, according to a recently unsealed plea agreement, after the South Texas Democrat was accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.
-
The big interview of US Ambassador to Baku Mark Libby on 3 May made a lot of noise and became the subject of political discussions. At the same time, it revealed a number of important factors regarding the American diplomacy and the work of the Embassy staff.
-
Azerbaijan will get a welcome earnings boost from BP’s announcement that it has launched production at a new $6-billion facility in Azerbaijan’s giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil field. The upgrade can boost the field’s output by as much as 25 percent.
Leave a review