On the eve of elections, Ilham Aliyev promises not to punish police officers dispersing opposition rallies
After the parliamentary election in 2005, the Azerbajan’s police diluted the opposition’s protest, and despite a pressure on Baku, the authorities did not punish any single policeman. In the future, the authorities are not going to punish the police, as was told by the Azerbajan’s president Ilham Aliev in his address to the policemen in the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijani republic.
According to the Azerbaijani new agency “1news.az” Aliev said that respecting police means respecting the government, as the policemen secure the law and fight the crime.
I highly value the work done and you know that I constantly protect and will not cease to protect the police. I remember in the year 2005, when several forces wanted to undertake the well-known orange revolution, prompt actions of police immediately stopped all those negative events. At that time in 2005, the situation was not like this. In several cases, Azerbajan was pressured by international structures. Currently, of course nobody can exert any pressure on us, and I can say that all such attempts have exhausted themselves. But at that time, there was a strong pressure for us to condemn the actions of the police, which, they thought, overreacted, and sought us to punish the police. In other words, they put conditions upon us. Now and then, I always said that not a single policeman will be punished.
Concerning the question of the activities of the opposition, the Azerbajan’s president named it as betraying, and the opponents themselves -slaves.
“There is unity between the people and the government. All of our initiatives are supported by the people. And those who want to oppose us have showed their true colors again. They show once again that they have no idea of independence. They show once again that they have the slave mentality. The slave mentality is that they are in constant search of a "big brother". They always want to be at someone’s feet. They constantly hold on to someone's lap and beg for help,” he said.
Further, Aliyev noted that the opposition is "anti-national, corrupt, treacherous elements and groups" that are ready to do "any thing" for the sake of their own personal interests.
Speaking of 1991-1993 events I. Aliyev stated that the then leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs actually played a major role in the spread of anarchy and tyranny. “The police, in particular the minister and his deputies, were themselves engaged in robbery. We all remember those days - tyranny, extortion and illegal actions actually reduced to zero public respect for the police,” he said.
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry will continue to use technical means, and also noted the role of the Internal Troops. Summarizing Ilham Aliyev said, “I am sure that police officers, as always, will show loyalty to the state and statehood.”
Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan in 2005 were accompanied by a variety of violations, as international observers and local human rights activists reported. Not recognizing the results of the vote in November 2005, the opposition brought out its supporters to the streets of Baku. The protest was violently dispersed. Police used batons and water cannons against demonstrators who had come out on sanctioned demonstration. Hundreds of women, children and elderly people were brutally beaten and seriously injured. At least 149 protesters were detained.
The United States condemned the use of force by the Azerbaijani authorities to disperse the demonstrations of oppositionists in Baku. In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Baku speaks of a categorical condemnation of "unjustified and unwarranted use of force." The embassy also urged the government of Azerbaijan to investigate the incident and punish those responsible for what happened.
The British Ambassador to Azerbaijan also expressed deep regret over the crackdown and called on the oppositional parties to show restraint.
The presidential elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for October 16 of 2013. Human rights activists and opposition members note that on the eve of the elections the Azerbaijani authorities had strengthened the repression. Thus Akif Muradverdiyev, the former manager of the president of Azerbaijan, Isa Sadikhov, the former deputy defense minister, Huseyn Abdullayev, the former MP, etc. have recently been arrested or filed as wanted.