AZERBAIJAN SENTENCES POPULAR FRONT ACTIVISTS.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan last week sentenced four Popular Front activists to prison terms of 11-12 years on charges of conspiring to assassinate President Haidar Aliev. The main defendant, Popular Front vice-chairman Faraj Guliev, has already been serving a prison term for his role in an earlier rebellion in Nakhichevan. (Turan, Interfax, January 30) The nationalist Popular Front was in power in 1992-93 and strongly opposes Aliev. It operates legally and is represented in parliament but faces considerable restrictions on its activities. This was the latest in a series of recent trials in which Azerbaijani opposition groups were accused of resorting to violence. (See Monitor, January 17 & 30) More trials are in preparation.

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