22:42, 16 February 2026

A Baku court has left Ali Karimli in custody.

The Baku Court of Appeal rejected the appeal to extend the arrest of Ali Karimli, leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan. The opposition politician released a statement denying the charges against him.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, on November 29, 2025, State Security Service officers detained Ali Karimli and his advisor, Mammad Ibrahim, a member of the Presidium of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). Both opposition figures were arrested for two and a half months, until February 13. Karimli was charged under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (actions aimed at the violent seizure of power or the violent change of the constitutional order of the state). He denied the charges and called his criminal case political persecution. On February 9, the arrest of Karimli and Ibrahim was extended for another four months.

On February 12, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan announced the uncovering of a conspiracy against the country's authorities involving former high-ranking officials and members of the Azerbaijani opposition. Among the defendants in the case are former head of the presidential administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and PFPA leader Ali Karimli. Mehdiyev has been accused of attempting a coup d'état and is under house arrest. On November 29, the pro-government APA news agency linked the search of Ali Karimli's home to the Ramiz Mehdiyev case, but a publication affiliated with the Popular Front Party (PFPA) refuted this theory.

The Baku Court of Appeals today rejected a complaint against the extension of Karimli's pretrial detention, leaving the opposition figure in custody, PFPA Deputy Chairman Seymur Hazi told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

The party also released a written statement today from Karimli, which he made public from the State Security Service (SGB) pretrial detention facility. In it, the politician rejects accusations of an "attempted coup" and calls them lies.

Karimli points out the groundlessness of the accusation that the National Council of Democratic Forces is planning a power grab with Russian support.

He recalled that "in 2013, the National Council was formed with the participation of all opposition forces existing at the time—parties, civil society, and the intelligentsia—precisely for the purpose of organizing a peaceful transition from authoritarianism to democracy."

According to investigators, the co-founders and leaders of the Union of Azerbaijani Organizations of Russia, registered "in a foreign country on July 4, 2012," Abbas Abbasov and Rustam Ibragimbekov (now deceased), as well as Ramiz Mehdiyev, the head of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), Kerimli Ali Amirhuseyn oglu, members of that party, Fuad Gahramanli and Ganimat Zayidov, and others, conspired to seize power. They created the "National Council of Democratic Forces" ("National Council"), nominating foreign citizen Rustam Ibragimbekov (had Russian citizenship - note from "Caucasian Knot") as a candidate in the 2013 presidential elections in Azerbaijan. According to the investigation, "a secret letter addressed by the National Council to the leadership of this foreign state in 2013 contained a request to support the activities of the Council and to put pressure on the Azerbaijani government to implement 'reforms' in Azerbaijan."

As Karimli notes, "during its activity, the National Council held 19 rallies, and not a single one of them involved an attempt to violently seize state power, or even a violation of public order."

The opposition leader also insists that the single presidential candidate and Chairman of the National Council, Rustam Ibrahimbekov, "was not allowed to run in the elections precisely because of the interference of Russia and Putin personally."

"Rustam Ibrahimbekov had dual citizenship, and he appealed to Putin with a request to release him from Russian citizenship. However, Putin, by failing to do so, prevented the National Council from participating in the elections with its first "a single candidate, not allowing the most popular alternative candidate at the time to participate in the elections," Karimli emphasized.

Furthermore, the State Security Service claims that Ganimat Zayidov (Ganimat Zahid is in political exile in France, and has headed Turan TV's opposition resources "Azerbaijani Hour" since 2011 - note from "Kakazsky Uzel"), since the beginning of 2013, on behalf of Ali Karimli, entered into secret relations with representatives of the special services of another country and negotiated support for the opposition's rise to power in Azerbaijan, promising in exchange "to ensure the strategic interests of a foreign state in Azerbaijan." According to the investigation, "the parties also agreed that if Ali Karimli comes to power, the Republic of Azerbaijan will gradually become a full member of the CSTO."

The politician called attempts to tie him "absurd" with Russia and the claim that "if Ali Karimli had come to power, Azerbaijan would even have become a member of the CSTO." Karimli notes that he has always criticized the authorities specifically for their "pro-Russian policies."

"I was against Azerbaijan's membership in the CIS, opposed the introduction of Russian peacekeeping forces into Karabakh, and harshly criticized Ilham Aliyev for this. I consistently criticized his declaration of allied cooperation with Russia, the creation of a network of Russian-language schools in Azerbaijan—Russia's main instrument of "soft power"—and his overall pro-Russian policy," Karimli continued.

The absurdity of the accusations of his cooperation with Russia is refuted, according to Karimli, by numerous statements by Western structures and politicians in his defense, including a statement by the European Parliament.

Caucasian Knot was unable to obtain comment from the State Security Service of Azerbaijan.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420861