Azerbaijan's Opposition Says Authorities Preparing To Falsify Election

Azerbaijan's opposition has accused authorities of preparing to fix next month's parliamentary elections.

Ali Keremli, the head of the Azerbaijani Popular Front party, says "We have no doubt that the authorities will again try to falsify parliamentary elections."

The opposition says the authorities are barring candidates, censoring the media, and limiting the right to campaign in the run-up to the vote.

Earlier this week, the rights group Human Rights Watch accused authorities in Azerbaijan of attacking, threatening, and jailing journalists ahead of the elections, and called for an immediate end to the persecution.

compiled from agency reports