Government re-launches repressions

The government of Azerbaijan has again launched repressions against activists of opposition parties, according to a press release of the Azadlyg ("Freedom") bloc. Thus, a state of emergency has actually been declared in the Biliasuvar district of Azerbaijan, 230 km south of Baku, according to the bloc. Residents are prohibited from gathering in groups of three or four there.

On 17 November, the police dispersed people resting in the city recreation park. Two citizens, Elman Mahmudov and Murad Almazov, protesting against police abuse, were delivered to a police station where they underwent physical violence. Several more persons were detained for taking part in the public meeting of the opposition in Baku on 13 November.

A total of 15 persons have been detained in Biliasuvar lately. Some of them have undergone administrative arrests. About 10 veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh war have also been persecuted. Some of them have tried to commit self-immolation in protest against falsification of the recent parliamentary elections. Nagorno-Karabakh war invalid Fahraddin Shabiyev caused himself grave bodily harm. It was only possible to save his life after a surgical operation. Another war invalid, Vagif Aliyev, was cruelly beaten by the police and hospitalised with a grave craniocerebral trauma. Besides, according to the press release, the police have launched repressions against oppositionists in other districts in the country, with a view to preventing them from coming to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to take part in another public meeting to take place in the Gelebe Square tomorrow, on 19 November.

• Oppositionists arrested in Azerbaijan's provinces