Azerbaijan Intensifies Crackdown with Arrest of Opposition Leader Ali Karimli
BAKU, Azerbaijan – December 2, 2025 – Amnesty International has condemned the recent detention of prominent Azerbaijani opposition leader Ali Karimli, chairman of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP), following a raid on his Baku home and subsequent arrest by the State Security Service.The arrest,and the charges leveled against him,are being viewed as further evidence of a deepening authoritarian trend within the country.
Denis krivosheev, amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and central Asia, stated: “Ali Karimli’s detention is the latest outrage in the ongoing consolidation of authoritarian practices in Azerbaijan. There appear to be no limits to the government’s campaign to crush all political opposition and suppress all dissent in the country. While few are prepared to openly challenge the authorities, the decision to arrest an opposition leader, hold him incommunicado and press dubious charges of ‘attempted seizure of power’ against him, sends a chilling warning to anyone who may have doubts as to how far the Azerbaijani government is prepared to go.”
karimli was remanded in pre-trial detention for two months and 15 days on December 1st by the Sabayil district Court in Baku, under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code, which concerns “actions aimed at the violent seizure of power” and “violent change of the constitutional order.” Authorities have linked Karimli to a criminal investigation involving Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the presidential administration, who was previously charged in October with attempted “seizure of power,” “high treason,” and “legalization of property obtained by criminal means.”
Following his detention on November 29th, Karimli was held incommunicado for two days. several other APFP members were also detained after searches were conducted,including Presidium member Mammad Ibrahim,who remains incommunicado.
“Authorities must release Ali Karimli unless they can demonstrate reasonable evidence of an alleged criminal offence,” Krivosheev added. “All they have demonstrated so far, by snatching and holding him incommunicado, and thus denying him his right to a fair trial, is their determination to take this wave of politically motivated arrests targeting opposition figures, academics, journalists and activists, even further.”
This arrest occurs amidst a broader crackdown on dissent in Azerbaijan, with reports of increasing harassment, arbitrary detention, and politically motivated prosecutions targeting not only opposition figures, but also journalists and academics. Recent cases include the sentencing of several journalists and the upheld jail sentence against opposition leader Tofig Yagublu.
