Authorised public meeting may be declared crime

Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office has opened a criminal case over the 26 November events in Baku under Articles 315.2 (resistance to or the use of force against government representatives) and 233 (organisation of or participation in public disorder). Preliminary investigation has been assigned to the Baku city prosecutor's office, a joint release of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan says.

The document indicates "grave violation" of the law on freedom of assembly on 26 November during the Azadlyg bloc's public meeting in the square in front of the former Gelebe movie theatre.

According to the statement of the MIA and the Prosecutor General's Office, 46 police officers and servicemen of the interior troops, as well as some meeting participants sustained various injuries.

Meanwhile, lawyer Osman Kiazimov believes that instigation of a criminal case over the 26 November events aims at pinning all the blame on the Azerbaijani opposition. Mr Panakh Gusein of the Azadlyg bloc says that the government is trying to weaken the growing activity of the opposition.

• Several oppositionists disappear after dispersal

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