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SECOND OPPOSITION YOUTH LEADER DETAINED IN AZERBAIJAN
Agence France Presse -- English
September 13, 2005 Tuesday 3:08 PM GMT
Authorities in Azerbaijan said Tuesday they had detained a prominent
opposition youth leader in connection to alleged anti-government
activity that received backing from a US democracy group and
neighbouring Armenia.
Law enforcement officers detained Said Nuri, deputy head of the
Yeni Fikir youth movement, on Monday, a spokesman for the prosecutor
general's office said.
"It is likely that charges will be pressed tomorrow," he told AFP.
The spokesman said Nuri's detention was linked to the arrest last
month of Yeni Fikir's leader, Ruslan Bashirli, who was charged with
plotting a Ukraine-style uprising backed by the US-based National
Democratic Institute (NDI), a democracy pressure group, and money
from Armenia's government.
Another deputy leader of Yeni Fikir, Fikret Farmazoglu, said Nuri had
been detained for "preparing to overthrow the government of Azerbaijan
and receiving funds from groups interested in doing this."
Prosecutors believe Nuri received instructions on how to organize a
revolt similar to that in Ukraine last winter at a recent conference
in Poland sponsored by NDI, Farmazoglu said.
NDI has denied training Yeni Fikir members to overthrow the government,
while Yeni Fikir claims the allegations against it are a government
smear campaign ahead of parliamentary elections in November.
Yeni Fikir participated in a demonstration by some 20,000
anti-government protestors in the capital Baku on Saturday to mark
the official start of election campaigning.
The last national vote in the mostly Muslim republic, the 2003
presidential elections in which President Ilham Aliyev took over from
his father Heydar Aliyev, ended in two days of rioting and hundreds
of arrests.
Agence France Presse -- English
September 13, 2005 Tuesday 3:08 PM GMT
Authorities in Azerbaijan said Tuesday they had detained a prominent
opposition youth leader in connection to alleged anti-government
activity that received backing from a US democracy group and
neighbouring Armenia.
Law enforcement officers detained Said Nuri, deputy head of the
Yeni Fikir youth movement, on Monday, a spokesman for the prosecutor
general's office said.
"It is likely that charges will be pressed tomorrow," he told AFP.
The spokesman said Nuri's detention was linked to the arrest last
month of Yeni Fikir's leader, Ruslan Bashirli, who was charged with
plotting a Ukraine-style uprising backed by the US-based National
Democratic Institute (NDI), a democracy pressure group, and money
from Armenia's government.
Another deputy leader of Yeni Fikir, Fikret Farmazoglu, said Nuri had
been detained for "preparing to overthrow the government of Azerbaijan
and receiving funds from groups interested in doing this."
Prosecutors believe Nuri received instructions on how to organize a
revolt similar to that in Ukraine last winter at a recent conference
in Poland sponsored by NDI, Farmazoglu said.
NDI has denied training Yeni Fikir members to overthrow the government,
while Yeni Fikir claims the allegations against it are a government
smear campaign ahead of parliamentary elections in November.
Yeni Fikir participated in a demonstration by some 20,000
anti-government protestors in the capital Baku on Saturday to mark
the official start of election campaigning.
The last national vote in the mostly Muslim republic, the 2003
presidential elections in which President Ilham Aliyev took over from
his father Heydar Aliyev, ended in two days of rioting and hundreds
of arrests.