Azeri authorities to bargain over jailed opposition leaders’ release – politician

Turan news agency
26 Oct 04

Baku, 26 October: The sentencing of seven opposition leaders was one
of the main issues discussed at the meeting of the Our Azerbaijan
bloc today. At a news conference after the meeting, the chairman
of the bloc [and Musavat party chairman], Isa Qambar, said that
the sentence was not “unexpected”. In his opinion, the authorities
will “bargain” with international organizations over the opposition
leaders’ release. According to Qambar, the bloc has a programme to
secure their release.

Assessing the first year of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev’s
presidency, he said that the social and economic situation of the
Azerbaijani people had significantly worsened and the level of
corruption surged over the past year. There is no progress in the
Karabakh issue and the political system of the country is in an
“appalling” state, Qambar said.

The Musavat leader touched on the [forthcoming presidential] elections
in Ukraine. He pointed to cooperation between the Our Azerbaijan
and Our Ukraine blocs. He said Our Azerbaijan was interested in the
victory of Viktor Yushchenko.