Political protesters clash with police in Azerbaijan

MOSCOW – Thousands of protesters in Azerbaijan shouting “Freedom!” and vowing to occupy downtown Baku on Saturday were beaten back by riot police wielding truncheons and water cannons. Witnesses said hundreds of protesters were injured, along with at least 26 police officers.

The demonstration, in which opposition leaders demanding new Parliament elections appeared to be staging an attempt to occupy the capital’s Victory Square, ended abruptly when officers in helmets and riot shields broke apart the speaker’s stand, ripped orange flags out of protesters’ hands and began beating demonstrators and opposition leaders with batons, leaving several people lying injured in the square.

Once demonstrators were driven into nearby side streets, police sealed off the square and opened fire with water cannons to drive crowds farther from the scene, witnesses said.

“We thought there was a possibility that something like this would happen, but we could not even imagine it would be so savage. To say that the use of force was excessive would be an understatement,” Murad Gassanly, a consultant for the opposition Popular Front Party, said in a telephone interview.

Baku police officials said they cleared the square only after it became obvious that opposition leaders planned to stage an indefinite sit-in in violation of the law.

“Rally organizers were warned in advance not to turn the rally into a mass disobedience action,” the Baku police said in a statement, carried by Interfax news agency.

Demonstrators waving orange flags occupied the streets in Ukraine’s capital last year to protest fraudulent elections and eventually force new balloting that brought the opposition to power.

Saturday’s rally in Baku, which opposition leaders said drew 10,000 demonstrators, was the latest in a series of protests since the Nov. 6 Parliament elections. The balloting gave a majority of seats in the 125-member legislature to the ruling New Azerbaijan party, leaving opposition parties with just 10 seats.

Facing widespread criticism from international observers and the U.S. State Department over the legitimacy of the voting, Azerbaijan authorities on Wednesday released official results which gave the ruling party not the 63-seat majority it had initially claimed but a total of 58 seats. With the opposition still limited to 10 seats, the remainder went to independent candidates, many of whom are likely to be pro-government, and belong to little-known small parties.

The U.S. State Department has credited the government for conducting a more open campaign and better monitoring than during previous elections, but said there were credible reports of “major irregularities and fraud that may have disenfranchised voters” in several districts around the country.