Watchdog

BAKU -- Four opposition activists in Azerbaijan have been charged over the April 2 antigovernment rally that was dispersed by riot police, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Three activists were ordered held in detention for two months -- Arif Hajili of the opposition Musavat party, Tural Abbasli of Musavat's youth organization, and Mammad Majidli, a member of the opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP).

The three, along with APFP deputy chairman Fuad Qahramanli, were charged with organizing "actions resulting in violation of public order and resisting and using force against government officials."

Qahramanli was later released but will remain under police surveillance pending completion of the investigation.

The opposition umbrella organization the Public Chamber said the whereabouts of three other activists is unknown.

Some 13 activists were given administrative punishments ranging from three to eight days after riot police broke up the protest in downtown Baku.

Riot police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas, and batons detained dozens of protesters, including women, and forced them into buses.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today criticized the authorities' handling of the protest.

"The overall detention of 174 people during and prior to a protest drawing less than 1,000 people is a big number," said Ambassador Bilge Cankorel, head of the OSCE's Baku office.

"On the other side, police did not interfere in the unsanctioned picket in front of a political party leader. The OSCE Baku office does not accept this different attitude."

The Public Chamber is planning its next major protest for April 16; a final decision will be made at its April 9 meeting.

The Public Chamber was established after the November 7 parliamentary elections. It includes several opposition parties, NGOs, and individuals.

Read in Azeri here

ALMATY -- The brother of a missing Kazakh opposition publisher says he has located his brother in Minsk, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Daniyar Moldashev, the director of the Almaty-based ADP publishing house, has been missing since March 25 when he was reportedly beaten and robbed by unknown assailants on his way home from the Almaty airport after arriving from Moscow.

Colleagues said last week that Moldashev was in Moscow to meet with editors from the opposition newspaper "Respublika." The attackers allegedly took his camera and some documents related to his work with "Respublika."

ADP publishing house representatives said today that Moldashev's brother, Asqar Moldashev, who left for Minsk on April 3, phoned Almaty-based lawyer Sergei Utkin from the Belarusian capital today and said Moldashev is in Minsk and in good condition.

Asqar Moldashev said he will further explain the entire situation when he returns to Almaty later this week. He said his brother currently has no plans to return to Kazakhstan.

On March 31, Almaty police issued an official statement saying that Moldashev was neither abducted nor robbed but had been attacked and taken to hospital where he "refused to cooperate" with police.

"Respublika" had to move its headquarters to Moscow from Almaty several years ago after Kazakh authorities imposed restrictions on the newspaper.

"Golos respubliki," another opposition publication that is published by ADP, had to suspend its operations due to pressure being imposed by local authorities several times, and some of its reporters have been attacked and beaten in the past.

Read more in Russian here