A court in Baku has ordered pre-trial detention for the leader of Azerbaijan’s main opposition Popular Front Party (AXCP) after he went missing over the weekend following a police raid of his apartment.
Ali Karimli was remanded in custody until February 13, 2026, by the Sabail District Court on December 1 after he was charged with plotting to overthrow President Ilham Aliyev.
Mammad Ibrahim, who serves as a member of the party’s presidium, was also arrested, while other officials with the party also reported their residences searched and had also gone missing.
Karimli and Ibrahim face penalties of up to life imprisonment if convicted.
Local media reported that National Council Chairman Jamil Hasanli was summoned for questioning by the State Security Service over an ongoing criminal case against Ramiz Mehdiyev, head of the presidential administration from 1994 to 2019.
Mehdiyev was placed under house arrest in October on various charges, including for an attempt to illegally seize power. The arrests of Karimli and his father are reportedly tied to that investigation.
In Turkey, meanwhile, security forces detained Gultekin Hajibeyli, another Azerbaijani democracy activist, who is a member of the Coordinating Center of the National Council of Democratic Forces.
Hajibayli told RFE/RL late on November 28 that she had been taken to a detention center in Istanbul. Her colleagues later said they were unable to locate her or get further information about her whereabouts.
Pro-government and other media reported that she was expected to be deported to Azerbaijan.
The State Security Service and the Interior Ministry did not respond to queries from RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service.
Mehdiyev was a longtime ally of the late President Heydar Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan until shortly before his death in 2003.
Heydar’s son, Ilham, took over the presidency shortly before his father’s death. Since then, he has systematically suppressed dissent by detaining independent journalists, opposition figures, and civil society activists.
Azerbaijan’s authorities have insisted that fundamental freedoms are protected in the country and that people are not persecuted for their critical positions and political activities.
AXCP posted a statement alleging that Karimli’s interviews with foreign media have “alarmed the Ilham Aliyev regime,” it said.
“In a situation where political activity is almost completely banned in the country, and civil liberties are severely restricted, this operation is the next step toward further intensification of political repression,” the statement said.
“The goal of tying these arrests to Ramiz Mehdiyev is to damage Ali Karimli’s reputation. They worked with Mehdiyev for nearly 30 years themselves. These accusations do not stick to us,” Seymur Hazi, a deputy party chairman, told RFE/RL.
