Azerbaijan Accuses Armenia Of Funding Opposition Group

(RFE/RL) 5 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Police in Baku arrested the leader of an Azerbaijani political youth group on 4 August for allegedly receiving money from Armenian security agents and plotting antigovernment acts.

Prosecutors identified the suspect as Ruslan Bashirli, of the opposition youth party Yeni Fikir. They say he was arrested after another group member, Osman Alimuradov, notified prosecutors that Bashirli held a secret meeting with the Armenian agents in Georgia in July.


The Prosecutors-General's Office said in a statement that Alimuradov also provided prosecutors with a video of the meeting. The National Front of Azerbaijan opposition party called the arrest "an act of repression against the youth union."


According to prosecutors, Bashirli and Alimuradov traveled to Georgia in July for talks about sparking a democratic uprising in Azerbaijan.


(AP/AFP)


See also: Baku Implicates Armenian Intelligence In Alleged Coup Bid


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