Ali Kerimli. Photo Getty Images.
The Sabail District Court of Baku decided on December 1 to impose a two-month arrest on Ali Kerimli and Mamed Ibrahim, a member of the board of the PNFA. Both politicians are accused of conspiracy to violently seize power. They face a sentence of 12 years to life imprisonment, as reported by DW.
Kerimli was detained on November 29. According to state media, letters written by Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the presidential administration, were found during a search of his premises. In October, the court placed 87-year-old Mehdiyev under house arrest for four months on charges including attempted coup and treason.
A source from Reuters reports that the authorities accuse Kerimli of receiving funding from Mehdiyev. However, the PNFA leader himself denies these allegations, stating that they are politically motivated, as his lawyer reported.
Ali Kerimli became the head of the "Popular Front of Azerbaijan" in 2000 after the death of Abulfaz Elchibey, the previous leader of the party and former president of the country. For 20 years, he has been denied a foreign passport, and in 2015, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that this violated his right to freedom of movement.
According to Azerbaijani human rights activists, Kerimli's arrest is part of a broader wave of repression. According to the "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan" union, the number of political prisoners in the country rose to 392 in October 2025, the highest figure in the 22 years of Ilham Aliyev's rule.
