27 September 2005, 13:16
Party candidate beaten in Azerbaijan
Sahib Guseinov, a candidate of the People's Front of Azerbaijan party in the Nakhichevan parliamentary election, was beaten earlier today in Negram, Babek district, Nakhichevan Republic, Azerbaijan. A group of unknown attackers approached Guseinov in front of the district electoral commission and accused him of being a member of an opposition party. They next beat him cruelly. All that happened in the presence of Gasan Mekhtiyev, chairman of the district electoral commission. The victim received help only after interference of long-term observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Sahib Guseinov was admitted to hospital, in a grave condition. He is convinced that the attackers had been sent by the police. This is not the first police attack on him, according to Mr Guseinov. He says the police had already abducted and beaten the oppositionist for his political activities.
Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent
