Police, Protesters Clash in Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan —  Police with batons beat back more than 1,000 demonstrators seeking to stage an unsanctioned rally in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Saturday and detained three opposition leaders.

Dozens of people were clubbed, including 13 prominent opposition figures, two lawmakers and five reporters who covered the rally, according to the information center of the Musavat opposition party. At least one person was hospitalized, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency said.

Police in green helmets and riot shields advanced, pushing back protesters, and a reporter saw three men left lying on the road, their heads and faces smeared with blood.

Opposition parties wanted to hold a rally to demand that this fall’s parliamentary elections be free of fraud and government intimidation of opposition groups. Authorities refused to allow the protest at Fizuli Square but said it could be held at a raceway on Baku’s northern outskirts.

Ignoring the refusal, a few hundred protesters broke through police cordons around the square on Saturday, and police beat them back with batons. Some protesters threw rocks at the police. The opposition crowd grew to at least 1,000, and scattered clashes continued throughout the evening.

Police said 46 people were detained. The opposition said they included Arif Gadzhiyev of the Musavat party; Panakh Guseinov of the People’s Party of Azerbaijan; and another leader, Fazil Gazanfarogly.