Azeri Police Use Force to Clear Protesters October 16, 50 injured
Elizabeth Piper - BAKU (Reuters) | 16.10.2003 13:28
Riot police firing tear gas and unleashing dogs drove backers of a defeated Azeri presidential candidate from a square on Thursday after the son of ailing leader Haydar Aliyev was declared the election winner.
With truncheons flailing, police waded into a 3,000-strong crowd massed in
the square adjacent to government buildings on the shore of the Caspian
Sea. Within 20 minutes the area had been cleared.
Medical teams said about 50 protesters were injured.
One man, trousers bunched up around his ankles, lay on the ground in a pool
of blood.
Within hours of the election announcement, activists backing opposition
candidate Isa Gambar surged toward the square, overturning cars and hurling
stones.
Protesters banged truncheons and shields stolen from police and shouted
"Isa! Isa!" in support of Gambar, shown by official tallies to be far
behind election winner Ilham Aliyev.
Gambar had claimed victory soon after polls closed in the election, which
was slammed by the OSCE rights and democracy body as falling short of
international standards. Police formed cordons six-deep on the side of the
square, site of nationalist demonstrations before the collapse of Soviet
rule, and then advanced on protesters.
Officers fired tear gas into the air, beat protesters and unleashed dogs on
them, sending the crowd scattering.
Police, some banging their truncheons in triumph, then moved through nearby
streets, searching for injured protesters in shops. Many storefront windows
were smashed in the clashes.
The protesters, some armed with metal bars, had emerged late in the morning
in the city center and surged toward the square, apparently taking police
by surprise.
Election officials in the oil-rich Caspian state declared Ilham had scored
a resounding victory and would take over the reins of power from his father
who is ill in a U.S. hospital with heart and kidney problems.
Citing numerous cases of ballot-stuffing, intimidation of opposition
figures and police violence, OSCE official Giovanni Kessler told a news
conference: "What we observed was an electoral process falling short of
international standards in several respects."
"There were numerous instances of violence...and sometimes an excessive use
of force by police," Kessler, head of the OSCE observation mission in
Azerbaijan, said.
He said political rallies and meetings by the opposition had been tightly
restricted and state-controlled media had not granted equal time to
opposition candidates.
the square adjacent to government buildings on the shore of the Caspian
Sea. Within 20 minutes the area had been cleared.
Medical teams said about 50 protesters were injured.
One man, trousers bunched up around his ankles, lay on the ground in a pool
of blood.
Within hours of the election announcement, activists backing opposition
candidate Isa Gambar surged toward the square, overturning cars and hurling
stones.
Protesters banged truncheons and shields stolen from police and shouted
"Isa! Isa!" in support of Gambar, shown by official tallies to be far
behind election winner Ilham Aliyev.
Gambar had claimed victory soon after polls closed in the election, which
was slammed by the OSCE rights and democracy body as falling short of
international standards. Police formed cordons six-deep on the side of the
square, site of nationalist demonstrations before the collapse of Soviet
rule, and then advanced on protesters.
Officers fired tear gas into the air, beat protesters and unleashed dogs on
them, sending the crowd scattering.
Police, some banging their truncheons in triumph, then moved through nearby
streets, searching for injured protesters in shops. Many storefront windows
were smashed in the clashes.
The protesters, some armed with metal bars, had emerged late in the morning
in the city center and surged toward the square, apparently taking police
by surprise.
Election officials in the oil-rich Caspian state declared Ilham had scored
a resounding victory and would take over the reins of power from his father
who is ill in a U.S. hospital with heart and kidney problems.
Citing numerous cases of ballot-stuffing, intimidation of opposition
figures and police violence, OSCE official Giovanni Kessler told a news
conference: "What we observed was an electoral process falling short of
international standards in several respects."
"There were numerous instances of violence...and sometimes an excessive use
of force by police," Kessler, head of the OSCE observation mission in
Azerbaijan, said.
He said political rallies and meetings by the opposition had been tightly
restricted and state-controlled media had not granted equal time to
opposition candidates.
Elizabeth Piper - BAKU (Reuters)
