US calls for condemnation of attacks on Azerbaijani opposition

Agence France Presse — English
August 10, 2005 Wednesday 6:35 PM GMT

BAKU Aug 10 — The United States called Wednesday for government
condemnation of recent attacks on the opposition in former Soviet
Azerbaijan to ensure fairness in upcoming parliamentary elections.

The US embassy in Baku said in a written statement that the government
of the Caucasus republic should condemn “unwarranted attacks on
individual parties or political figures” ahead of the November
elections.

The call comes after pro-government groups launched a series of
violent attacks against an opposition party closely linked to a youth
movement accused of plotting with Armenian secret services to foment
a revolution in Azerbaijan.

Members of the pro-government Muasir Musavat party have clashed with
opposition supporters three days in row, on one occasion throwing
sticks and bottles at the headquarters of the National Front of
Azerbaijan party.

Tensions flared after police arrested the leader of the Yeni Fikir
opposition youth movement, Ruslan Bashirli, whom prosecutors accuse
of accepting money from Armenian agents to finance a revolution
in Azerbaijan.

Yeni Fikir shares an office with the National Front party and denies
the accusations.

The case has received non-stop coverage in Azerbaijani media.

One channel has repeatedly aired footage of Bashirli’s alleged meeting
with the agents, interspersing it with pictures of Azerbaijanis who
died during a 1990s war with Armenia.

“Serious allegations should be addressed in the courts, and not in
the media,” the US embassy statement said.

“We expect that the government of Azerbaijan will conduct a fair and
impartial investigation into the recent allegations,” the statement
continued.