Azerbaijan court extends detention of opposition leaders and former official

Mammad Ibrahim

A court in Azerbaijan has extended the pre-trial detention of opposition leader Ali Karimli and his party colleague Mammad Ibrahim by five months.

The Sabail District Court in Baku made the ruling on Wednesday following a petition from the State Security Service (DTX). Both men are senior members of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP).

On the same day, the court also extended the house arrest of Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the Presidential Administration, by five months.

Karimli, the AXCP chairman, and Ibrahim, a party board member, were arrested on 29 November last year. On 1 December, prosecutors charged them under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code, which relates to attempting to seize power by force and forcibly changing the constitutional order.

Pro-government media outlets have claimed that Karimli was detained in connection with a wider criminal case against Mehdiyev. They allege that Mehdiyev wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing the establishment of a transitional government in Azerbaijan.

The AXCP has strongly rejected the accusations, calling the case a "repressive campaign" by the authorities.

The party alleged that DTX officers planted a copy of the letter in Karimli's home during a search before claiming to have discovered it. Karimli has previously denied any cooperation with Mehdiyev, whose own response to the allegations is not known.

Several other political figures have been targeted as part of the same investigation. Jamil Hasanli, the chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces, has been questioned by the security services, while council member Gultekin Hajibeyli was detained in Turkey pending deportation to Azerbaijan. Former deputy prime minister Abbas Abbasov has also been placed on an international wanted list.