The Azerbaijani Supreme Court ruled on 14 July against a motion by the opposition Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (ADP) seeking to register its exiled leader, former parliament speaker Rasul Guliev, as its candidate in the 15 October presidential election. The opposition party was petitioning the court to overturn a decision by the Central Election Commission declaring Guliev ineligible. The head of the Baku office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Peter Burkhardt, expressed concern over the ruling. Guliev, a former deputy prime minister as well as parliamentary speaker before resigning in 1996, faces outstanding criminal charges of corruption and embezzlement in Azerbaijan. Although Guliev fled Azerbaijan and lives in self-imposed exile in the United States to evade the charges, he continues to lead the opposition DPA and is seen by some as one of the most formidable opponents to 80-year-old President Heidar Aliev. (Interfax)