The police arrested this Sunday, February 16 in Azerbaijan dozens of opponents who planned to demonstrate to denounce the electoral frauds which, according to them, marred the recent legislative elections in this Caucasian country which is chaired with an iron fist by President Ilham Aliyev.
Read also: Elections in Azerbaijan: victory of the party in place, fraud according to the opposition
At least fifteen people were thus arrested when they wanted to gather around the headquarters of the Central Election Commission at the call of opposition parties, including Musavat and the Alternative Républicaine (ReAl), found a journalist for AFP.
Taken hundreds of miles
Musavat announced in a statement that its leader Arif Gadjily and that of ReAl Ilgar Mamedov were among the 55 protesters who he said were arrested, some near their homes.
Several of them were taken " in police buses to remote and deserted places, 200/300 kilometers from Baku (the capital, editor's note) and abandoned there ," Gadjily told the 'AFP after being released.
The ruling party won an absolute majority in parliament a week ago, according to official results, while the opposition had only one seat. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed doubts about the " honesty " of this election.
