In Azerbaijan, opposition complain of pressure during signing-in against constitutional amendments

The oppositional parties of Azerbaijan complain of the pressure exerted on the activists who are gathering signatures for the constitutional amendments referendum forthcoming on March 18. The signing-in is conducted for registration of agitation groups for holding legal propaganda against the amendments, which will allow one and the same person to be elected the president of the country for unlimited number of times.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Gasan Kerimov, authorized representative of the initiative group for setting up the Agitation Group (AG) "Movement for Karabakh and Republic", that on January 27 the police rushed into the office of the local branch of the Party of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan and confiscated subscription lists with 500 signatures.

According to his story, in the Bard district activists who gathered signatures among refugees from Khodzaly were forced out of the district. Everywhere the police and authorities spread rumours that signatures are gather with the aim of a putsch, which frightens away the population.

Gyulaga Aslanly, authorized representative of another oppositional initiative group - the "Republicans", reported, in his turn, that yesterday, on January 27, in the Ismaillinskiy District four subscription lists with voters' signatures were confiscated, and one more - in Sumgait.

He has emphasized that after "complaints are presented to the Central Electoral Committee (CEC) about violations registered in this or that district, pressure on oppositionists and citizens who have signed-in becomes stronger there."

Messrs Kerimov and Aslanly have noted that the CEC demands "proofs of pressure upon oppositionists and citizens", and under this pretext makes decisions that complaints are groundless.

Fakhraddin Abbas, a member of the initiative group for the AG "Movement for Karabakh and Republic", is almost daily summoned to the police and prosecutor's office of the city of Sumgait.

Annagi Gadzhibeili, President of the Association of Lawyers of Azerbaijan, has stated that the facts of intervention of the authorities and police into the signing-in campaign are rough violations of the law. At the same time, he has noted that as of today there was only a report in relation to arrest of two activists of the Party of Popular Front, to whom, according to spokesmen of the Party, drugs were planted.

The press services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Office of Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan abstain from any comments on the topic of interference of law enforcement bodies into the sign-in campaign. These agencies recommend addressing the CEC, since complaints related to the referendum are considered there.

Azer Saryev, press secretary of the CEC, has reported, in his turn, that the Committee considered, at its two sittings on January 24 and 27, complaints of the initiative groups for setting up AGs "Movement for Karabakh and Republic" and "Republicans". However, the facts stated in the complaints were not confirmed, and, consequently, the complaints were recognized to be ungrounded.

See earlier reports: "."