These cases, held under the chairmanship of judges Faik Gasimov, Abid Abdinov and Tofik Pashayev, were part of the overall trial of over a hundred opposition activists, who were detained as a result of the violence during and after the Presidential election last October. The opposition Musavat party came second to the ruling party’s candidate Ilham Aliyev, who gathered over 70% of cast votes. During that violence, protestors clashed with police and army, the result of which was one dead person and dozens wounded. The protestors were objecting to electoral fraud and used various heavy tools to damage the city\'s infrastructure. Police, in turn, used tear gas and sticks to disperse the crowd.

Despite the completed court cases, the defense side is not pleased with the results and claims that the judges were biased and pressured by the executive authorities. Defense attorney Mirismail Hadi told the independent daily Ekho that \"The guilt of the opposition activists was not proven. The decision of the court was absolutely political.\" Hadi also said that he would appeal the decision of the court regarding those members of the opposition Musavat party who were sentenced to serve a prison term.

Other defense lawyers also stated that the decisions of the judges could have been easily predicted in advance, because the authorities had no intention to arrest all the detained people, instead wanting to release them gradually.

A majority of local analysts believe that release of a majority of detained activists was due to international pressure. Following the arrests, various international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and foreign governments including the U.S. State Department, have expressed concerns regarding the arrests and called for free and fair trials of the arrested people. \"The international pressure affected the court decisions,\" says Hadi.

Several ranking members of the opposition parties, including deputy chairmen of Musavat party Sulheddin Akbar and Arif Hacili are still waiting for their trial to begin. The opposition claims that authorities are artificially prolonging the investigation, while the office of the general prosecutor argues that time is necessary to gather all evidence and initiate trials.

Among the arrested people is Rauf Arifoglu, editor in chief of the popular opposition daily Yeni Musavat. Arifoglu also serves as a deputy chairman of the Musavat party and authorities claim that he was one of those who personally organized and prepared the post-election violence. Meanwhile, the daily claimed that the authorities are launching a new stage of intimidation and harassment against the publication and its staff, as they were required to pay court fines of $150,000 as a result of lost lawsuits in 2003.

The Musavat party on March 6 issued a public statement, in which it called the attention of the international community to the court procedures, which it claimed are marred by \" major violations and the use of false evidence\". Musavat called upon the authorities to release all the detained people and compensate them for moral and material losses.

Similar appeals had been made earlier by representatives of NGOs and the intelligentsia. Several NGO activists like Kamil Veli Nariman oglu, Leyla Yunus and Ilgar Altay called for public forums of reconciliation and mutual dialogue. Other human rights activists noted that the release of the detained opposition activists could help fix the image of Azerbaijan in the international arena.

The court cases will continue and most probably will result in the release of the majority of the detained persons. It is not in the interest of newly elected President Ilham Aliyev to keep this issue in the press headlines. The gradual liberalization of the political scene is likely to open up new opportunities for the further economic and social reforms in the country.