Police clash with opposition protesters in Azerbaijani capital

~ The activists claimed the Nov. 6 elections were rigged.

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Truncheon-wielding police Saturday beat and dispersed opposition protesters demanding a redo of disputed parliamentary elections, the first use of force against demonstrators since the vote.

Some 15,000 opposition activists gathered in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to protest Nov. 6 parliamentary elections they claimed were rigged. It was latest in a series of such demonstrations in recent weeks.

Unlike in previous rallies, however, protesters Saturday tried to stage a sit-in at a downtown square. Police in riot gear rushed to disperse them. Protesters shouted "Freedom!" and some hurled stones at police, who hid behind shields.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and plainclothes police agents quickly pushed protesters away from the square. Police used water cannons to drive protesters from a nearby street. Security forces shattered a stand used by opposition leaders and broke the opposition's orange banners -- the color borrowed from Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

Baku's deputy police chief, Yashar Aliev, said 18 officers were injured in the clash with the protesters and that police detained 29 people. Opposition leaders said scores of protesters were beaten and many badly injured.

"They used force against a peaceful rally without any prior notice," said Ali Kerimli, head of the Popular Front, one of the parties in the Azadliq opposition bloc that organized the protest. "Today Azerbaijani authorities showed their real face."

Opposition parties had planned to hold the rally Sunday but rescheduled it after failing to secure permission from Baku authorities. Authorities allowed the Saturday rally to last two hours; police intervened after that time expired and when protest leaders said they would hold a sit-in.

International observers criticized the Nov. 6 polls, saying they fell below democratic standards. But Western countries concerned about maintaining stability in the oil-rich Caspian Sea state bordering Iran have not endorsed opposition demands for repeat elections.

Frequent opposition protests had encouraged expectations that Azerbaijan was headed toward a popular uprising like those that brought opposition leaders to power in other ex-Soviet nations such as Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Disillusioned electorate

Many Azerbaijan people are disillusioned with the authoritarian government of President Ilham Aliev, who succeeded his long-ruling father Heydar Aliev in 2003. But the opposition failed to capitalize on resentment over corruption that has helped keep more than 40 percent of people in poverty despite the nation's oil wealth.

Harsh official restrictions on demonstrations along with widespread public apathy and the opposition's weakness mean that attendance at rallies has often fallen short of organizers' expectations.

Kerimli said another demonstration is planned for next Saturday.