Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition
October 7, 2017 Saturday
Participants of the opposition rally accused the authorities of corruption
Baku / 07.10.17 / Turan: Opposition rally under the slogan "The End of
Corruption, Freedom for Political Prisoners!" has come to the end. The
leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Ali Kerimli
said that the authorities in every possible way try to disrupt the
opposition rallies. According to him, in recent weeks, about 200
activists have been detained and summoned to the police;16 people were
subjected to administrative arrest.
However, according to Kerimli, the authorities can arrest the
organizers of the rally, but they can do nothing before the power of
the people, and they will not be able to prevent mass protests. He
criticized the authorities for corruption, which became the object of
criticism at the international level. "We expect the international
community to complete the investigation of the scandal with the
laundering of $ 3 billion from Azerbaijan, and the punishment of those
responsible," Kerimli said. The oppositionist noted that those who by
corruption deprive the disabled, orphans, martyr families, pensioners
sooner or later will bear a decent punishment. He also criticized the
policy of the authorities towards the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict, and stated that the funds allocated for defense were spent
on the purchase of low-quality weapons.
Kerimli also demanded the release of political prisoners. Jamil
Hasanli, chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF)
of Azerbaijan, also spoke about corruption in Azerbaijan at the
highest level, calling the power "kleptocratic". Azerbaijan, Hasanli
continued, is governed by the "government of oligarchic ministers".
Hasanli demanded the release of political prisoners. During the
performance of Hasanli at the stadium about five minutes, electricity
was cut off. Electricity supply was stopped also during the
announcement of the picket resolution, at the time when it was
announced that it was demanding to return "stolen 2.9 billion" to the
country. The NCDF demanded an investigation of these facts, and
appointed the next rally at 3 p.m. on October 28. -03B06--
* * *
2017 October 07 (Saturday) 15:05:37
Opposition rally
Baku / 07.10.17 / Turan:, A rally of thousands of people began with
the slogan: "The end of corruption, freedom for political prisoners!"
has begun at the Yasamal district stadium (formerly known as "Mahsul")
at 15:00. Representatives of other political parties and public
organizations also take part in the action organized by the National
Council of Democratic Forces (NUSD).
In the previous week in the social networks on the Internet there was
active agitation with an appeal to citizens to participate in the
rally.
At the same time, the authorities took measures to prevent the mass
action of the rally: for all the week there were reports of arrests,
arrests, calls to the police, dismissals from the work of the
representatives of the Popular Front, the Democratic Party, the
Classic Popular Front, the Movement "Muslim Unity" and others. The
opposition rally under the same slogan was held on September 23. It
demanded that the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office investigate the
facts set forth in the OCCRP's international journalistic network
investigation of money laundering from Azerbaijan through companies
registered in the UK. -06B-
