Affrontements à Bakou – 2 avril 2011

Middle East unrest spreads to Azerbaijan

ibtimes.com

April 4, 2011

The wave of unrest and anti-government agitation in the Middle East may now have spread to the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Russia.

According to media reports, about 30 people have been jailed in Azerbaijan after police cracked down on an illegal anti-government rally that took place over the weekend in the capitol city of Baku. Another 160 activists have been arrested.

Demonstrators reportedly chanted “Resign” and “No to the dictatorship!” before riot police intervened.

According to Human Rights Watch, the detained activists were “quickly convicted in summary trials on charges of disobeying police orders and sentenced to administrative or misdemeanor detention ranging from five to 13 days, which would keep them locked up beyond the protest date.”

President Ilham Aliyev, who is clearly aware that regimes have toppled one by one in the Middle East and North Africa, has enforced a zero-tolerance policy towards anti-government sentiments in the his country. Read more…