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A rally, which recorded three thousand participants and supported the presidential candidate, screenwriter Rustam Ibrahimbekov, was recently held in Baku, reports “Kavkazskiy Uzel”.

According to the article, the participants demanded the government provides conditions for the representative of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), Rustam Ibrahimbekov to be able to return and nominate himself for the elections. The resolution signed as a result of the rally also demands conditions for holding democratic, free and fair elections.

There are also demands to the head of the state to provide explanation about offshore companies the Aliyev clan is engaged in, to punish corrupted officials, and put an end to the violation of property rights.

“Before the start of the rally the police captured participants' posters, which, in their opinion, had anti-governmental content including criticism personally against the president of Azerbaijan. Besides, the police denied access to the fenced area, where a number of soldiers' mothers were holding a rally. They went to the rally with portraits of their sons, who died in non-combat conditions. The women were put in the police car, taken to another part of the city and released there,” – reports “Kavkazskiy Uzel.”

Azerbaijani news portal Haqqin.az reads that oppositionists from the regions were denied access to Baku, while officers detained vehicles transporting oppositionists, captured the cars, and transported people to unknown directions.

The “Kavuzel” article writes that regardless of the ban by police to raise posters concerning topics other than elections, young activists of the civic movement “Nida” (“Call”) demonstrated the photos of their arrested allies and demanded their release. Besides that, they raised posters with the following slogans: “Where are you, democracy?” “Children of ministers to the front line,” and “Ilham, God doesn't come in threes for elections.” The rally included Islamists, who periodically chanted slogans like “Allahu Akbar,” “Allah is one,” and “Freedom to Hijab.”

“One of the Nida activists, Beidulla Mamedov was detained. The police detained other rally participants, too, whom they ripped off from the crowd and took away,” reads the article.

Azerbaijani service of Radio Liberty reports that the arrests of the oppositionists started even before the rally. The Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front, chairman of the rally committee Asaf Guliyev announced that the number of the arrested oppositionists before the rally has reached 11. “4 out of 11 detained will be subjected to administrative arrest for 5-15 days,” – said Guliyev before the rally. In fact, the number of arrested during the rally is unknown.

A short note from Rustam Ibrahimbekov was read out loud during the rally. Ibrahimbekov expressed his support and solidarity to the participants and his confidence that “due to united efforts democratic forces will achieve victory over the reactionary regime.”

The leader of the opposition party “Musavat” informed that either another candidate from the intelligenzia will be nominated during the session of the NCDF on Monday, August 19 or Ibrahimbekov's early idea about “the nomination of several candidates and the final support of only one of them” will be approved.

According to the article, the young participants of the rally regularly chanted the slogan “Ilham, leave!” and “Ilham, hands off the youth!” demanding the release of political prisoners. “However, every time when those slogans were voiced, the platform microphone was turned off and was turned on again after a few minutes of pause,” writes Kavkazskiy Uzel.

The head of the Khazar district organization of the National Front of Azerbaijan Amrulla Dadashzade told the reporter from “Kavkazskiy Uzel” that they joined the rally to “tell no to the bloody regime of Aliyevs, who reign more than 40 years.”

“There were never fair elections in Azerbaijan with the exception of 1992 elections, when Abulfaz Elchibey was elected as president. We are for peaceful change of power,” said Dadashzade.

“Kavkazskiy Uzel” reminds that the decision to hold the rally was made during the session of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) on August 12. NCDF also decided to use every single opportunity to nominate its leader Rustam Ibrahimbekov as a presidential candidate.

Ibrahimbekov is currently not in Azerbaijan. In the beginning of July he officially applied to the authorities of Russian Federation with the request to terminate his Russian citizenship. Based on the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the president of the country cannot have a dual citizenship.

“During the meeting of the Central Electoral Commission of Azerbaijan on August 2 the polls for the next presidential elections were scheduled on October 9. On August 10 the Central Electoral Commission approved the nomination of the current head of state Ilham Aliyev. The leaders of the opposition parties and movements in Azerbaijan consider the nomination of Ilham Aliyev for the position of the head of the state for the third time in a row illegal,” reads the article.