10:59, 29 October 2003

80 participators of mass disorders were set free in Azerbaijan

80 participators of the mass disorders of October 15-16 in Baku were set free on Monday, October 27. A source at the Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office reported it.

110 people were set free earlier, after negotiations of human rights activists with the Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov. Besides, 210 people were released on the ground of the prosecutor general's statement.

75 people, for whom arrest was meted out as a preventive punishment, are still being kept in the Bailovsky Investigatory Isolation Ward, reported the source. Most of them have already confessed to their part in the organization and participation in the mass disorders. These people are expected to be sentenced to imprisonment for terms from 4 to 12 years, explained the source.

On October 15-16, supporters of opposition Musavat party leader Isa Gambar organized mass disorders in Baku, demonstrating their disagreement with their leader's defeat in the presidential elections of October 15.

Source: Interfax News Agency