Azerbaijani Police Disperse Postelection Protest

Security forces detained opposition supporters as they were gathering to protest outside Azerbaijan's election commission building in the capital, Baku, on February 16. A candidate for the opposition Musavat Party, Faraj Karimli, was detained while speaking to journalists. The demonstrators decried reported violations in the February 9 parliamentary elections. According to police, the protest was not officially sanctioned, but the opposition says the constitution does not require any official permission to demonstrate.