Up to 100 people have been detained in an opposition protest organised by the Popular Front Party in front of the capital’s Executive Authority.
The protest, which appears to have been attended by dozens of demonstrators, lasted for an hour before being dispersed by the police. Among their demands were the right to freedom of assembly, the release of political prisoners, the reopening of Azerbaijan’s land borders, free elections, and an end to ‘family rule’.
The police had cordoned off the the Executive Authority’s building and placed it under surveillance. The Popular Front Party said that up to a 100 of its members were arrested as they were approaching the building.
Amidst the heavy security presence, some party members arrived at the scene one by one and later split into groups of four to six protestors.
Despite police harrassment and the arrests made during the protest, Ali Karimli, the party’s chair, stated that the rally was ‘a success’.
‘Although up to 100 activists of the party were detained at their homes and many protestors were arrested on the roads before reaching the action site, hundreds of party members and other protesters went to the active site’, he said in a post on Facebook following the event.
