12 March 2011, 19:19
Clashes of police and opposition in central Baku
They occurred today in the capital of Azerbaijan in Fountains Square, when the police began dispersing the protesters from the "Musavat" party who gathered in the square.
The action was several hundreds of persons strong - not only "Musavat" activists, but also from the Popular Front Party and other opposition organizations.
The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that the protesters chanted "Freedom!", "Democracy!" and "Resign!" The most active participants were detained; however, new groups of oppositionists arrived in the square.
The clashes lasted for more than half an hour. In order to remove the opposition activists from the square, policemen made a hand-in-hand chain and tried to drive the crowd away from the square into the adjacent streets.
At least 30 persons were detained in the course of the dispersal, including Arif Gadjily, head of the office of the "Musavat" Party. Activists managed to fight some of the detainees back from the police.
However, Kyamil Velishev, deputy head of the Sabail District Police Division, refuted information about the detainees, saying that "there were no detainees."
Meanwhile, another group of young people gathered near the seaside boulevard behind the Museum Centre. The police arrived there and began dispersing not only the youth, but also journalists.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
