Opposition Leader Ali Karimli Detained in Azerbaijan

PFPA leader Ali Karimli

The Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) announced the detention of its leader, Ali Karimli, his advisor Mammad Ibrahim, and several other activists of the organization.

The party demanded the release of all detainees and an end to repression.

The PFPA issued a statement late on November 29 regarding the detention of Ali Karimli.

“Today it became known that the leader of the democratic opposition of Azerbaijan, PFPA Chairman Ali Karimli, was detained by officers of the State Security Service (SSS). The official reasons for the detention are not disclosed. His home was also searched.

At the same time, the home of PFPA presidium member Mammad Ibrahim, who was also detained, was searched,” the statement reads.

It also reports “the detention of several other party activists.”

“We declare that the detention of Ali Karimli is exclusively politically motivated. In recent years, the authorities have virtually blocked his activities. Despite this, Ali Karimli remains one of the key figures of the democratic movement in Azerbaijan,” the statement further says.

The party believes that Karimli's interviews with leading international media and his invitations to global political forums cause concern for the Ilham Aliyev regime.

“Today's detention should be viewed as an attempt by the authorities to destroy the last independent political force in Azerbaijan and completely suppress the people's struggle for democracy and freedom,” the statement further adds.

The PFPA demands the immediate release of Ali Karimli, Mammad Ibrahim, and other detained party members, an end to the persecution of opposition members and supporters, and guarantees of legal protection and security for the detainees.

“We call on the international community, human rights organizations, and democratic governments in Europe and around the world to immediately react to these events and demand that the Azerbaijani authorities comply with their international obligations in the field of human rights,” the document states.

Among the detained PFPA members are also Karimli's assistant Faig Amirli, and the head of the Sabunchi district organization of the PFPA, Fariza Alizadeh.

Law enforcement officers also came for Karimli's former bodyguard, Ruslan Amirov, but he was not home, said party activist Gulnara Ragimova.

In turn, the pro-government agency APA, citing sources, reported that the search at Karimli's residence is being carried out "as part of an investigation conducted by the State Security Service" in connection with the case against the former head of the presidential administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev.

The former head of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, Ramiz Mehdiyev, was previously accused of attempting a coup d'état. He is under house arrest.

"Linking opposition leader Ali Karimli with Ramiz Mehdiyev, who devoted his life to serving the current criminal-corruption regime, is a gross violation of law and morality," in turn, says a message on the Facebook page of the newspaper "Azadlig" - a publication associated with the PFPA.