Radical Eurovision opponents detained in Azerbaijan

A group of eleven people who are suspected of disseminating radical Islamic materials condemning the Eurovision-2012 song contest, which kicked off in Baku on Tuesday, have been detained in the Azeri city of Sumagit, APA news agency reported. One of the detainees, Ali Aliev, is an owner of a local shop. Sumagit police searched it and uncovered CDs containing materials condemning the song contest and its participants, a police source told APA. According to earlier reports, similar CDs and leaflets have been found in the entrance halls of several buildings in Baku and Sumagit. The discs contained 20-minute film about Islamic martyrs. Allegedly, these materials have been produced in neighboring Iran. Azerbaijan won the right to host Eurovision this year after its pop duo Ell and Nikki won the contest in 2011. The kitsch European song contest began in Baku on May 22 and will conclude on May 26. Prior to Eurovision-2012, there were rumors that the Azeri LGBT community would hold a gay pride parade held as a part of the tournament. Some senior Iranian officials have been angered by these rumors, with several clerics and politicians calling on Baku to scrap any such plans. Chief of the Azerbaijan Presidential Social and Political Committee, Ali Gasanov, on Monday officially dismissed allegations that a gay event will be held in Baku. Azerbaijan decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, but anti-gay sentiment remains strong in the country.