Azeri Youth Protest Foiled

An attempt by young Azerbaijanis to emulate protesters in Arab countries has flopped, with many detained or prevented from gathering.

Organisers used Facebook and other social networking websites to call on young people to gather on March 11, but several were detained themselves beforehand.

Dayanat Babayev of the opposition Popular Front was detained on March 4, apparently for talking too loudly on the phone. Another four organisers were detained on March 8 and 9, some accused of failing to obey police orders.

"The first to be arrested were those who called on people to protest via social networks, or handed out leaflets," Abdulfaz Qurbanli, chair of the Popular Front's youth wing, said.

With police taking preemptive action against the organisers, few young people made it as far as the demonstration.

Sixteen were detained at Baku's main train station, where police officers were waiting for them. Students said there was an increased police presence around Baku State University, while people arriving from outside the city reported that their cars were stopped and searched.

As soon as the protest got under way, the nearest underground rail station was closed, and trains went past without stopping.

A protest march did take place, and went off without major incident.

Arzu Abdullayeva, head of the national committee of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, a human rights group, said she had received reports of around 30 people being detained in all, and predicted that most would be fined and let go.

The interior ministry was tight-lipped, saying only that young people had attempted to stage an illegal protest, and public order had been restored.

Pro-government politicians accused forces abroad of trying to stir up unrest in Azerbaijan, accusing émigrés in Europe of being behind the protest.

"I can't even imagine any kind of serious protest… against this government, because the youth of Azerbaijan support the policies of President Ilham Aliyev and the people can see that Azerbaijan is now developing in a stable manner," Mubariz Qurbanli, a parliamentarian from the governing Yeni Azerbaijan party, told the Azeripress news agency.

"All this noise is just a pretence of action, which oppositionists like Isa Gambar want to use to remind us they still exist. The people who listen to their calls make up less than 0.1 per cent of the population."

Gambar is leader of the opposition Musavat party, which is part of the Popular Front. His son was among the youth activists detained.

Foreign missions in Baku urged the government to reveal how many people it had detained, and to respect their human rights. The European Union said it was watching the arrests with concerns.

Youth activists accepted that the authorities had won this round, but promised to keep up their campaign for political change.

"The protest didn't happen, because they didn't get their message across, and the time and place weren't clearly communicated," Vafa Jafarova of the Dalga movement acknowledged. "But the idea is a good one. The youth movement is growing, and it embodies the anger felt by the people."

Idrak Abbasov is a reporter for the Ayna and Zerkalo newspapers in Azerbaijan.