So that means there’s more Azerbaijan protest dispersal news.
Police hit some protesters in the arms and legs with clubs and appeared to drag at least a dozen away – one with a bloodied head – forcing them into a minibus. Later, police surrounded a protester who was on the ground, hitting him with truncheons and kicking him.
“This is how they smother freedom,” said Jafar Bakhash, an opposition supporter leaning on a wooden cane and standing near the fray. “I’m 65, but I will fight to the end of my life.”
Fewer protesters turned out than the opposition had expected.
For the Azeri government’s view of the matter, read Interfax’s coverage.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
{ 3 comments }
Are you sure that isn’t New Orleans?
Funny how fewer people show up after 3 consecutive weeks of getting the shit beaten out of them. Hard to imagine….
Here’s a photo that looks like it might have been taken in Baku Police officers subdue a man on Conti Street near Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans Saturday night, Oct. 8, 2005. At least one police officer repeatedly punched the 64-year-old Robert Davis, accused of public intoxication, and another officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)