Armed police on 3 June forcibly prevented Azerbaijani oppositionists from congregating outside the parliament building in Baku to protest the provisions of the new election law. Police reportedly beat some demonstrators and arrested several dozen of them. On 2 June, Baku deputy police chief Yashar Aliev warned representatives of opposition parties aligned in the Opposition Coordinating Council (MKM) that organized the demonstration that the municipal authorities had rejected their application for permission to hold the protest outside the parliament building and had proposed an alternative venue. The opposition leaders rejected that proposed alternative. (Turan)