Azerbaijan's jailed opposition leader, Ali Karimli, has urged Western nations to find the courage to challenge the regime's human rights record, warning that political opposition in the country is at risk of being eliminated.
Speaking from a Baku prison cell where he has spent nearly six months on contested treason charges, the 61-year-old veteran leader of the pro-democracy Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) said his arrest marks a new era of repression.
“The repressive campaign already underway ... has now reached its peak with my arrest,” Karimli told The Independent. “It signals that a new era has begun — one in which the authorities intend to eliminate organised political opposition in Azerbaijan permanently.”
Rights groups report hundreds detained
Rights groups have identified at least 340 people they say are political prisoners, including journalists and activists. Concerns grew in December when a 22-year-old regime critic died by apparent suicide in prison, with no investigation published.
Karimli warned that Baku’s trade partners are sacrificing long-term stability in the energy-rich country by “looking the other way”. He called on the UK, Azerbaijan’s largest foreign investor, to use its leverage.
Karimli was detained on 29 November after security agents raided his home. He was accused of conspiring to overthrow the government in a Russian-backed coup and held incommunicado for two days before being remanded in pre-trial detention. His trial, initially expected in February, has been postponed to June.
Conditions in detention
“The regime here is extremely harsh,” Karimli said. “The State Security Service detention facility has the strictest conditions in the country.” He insisted the charges are bogus and motivated by a calculation that the international community is “too distracted” by issues like the war in Ukraine to intervene.
He said the regime under President Ilham Aliyev believes “that European governments, hungry for alternative energy sources after turning away from Russian gas, will quietly set democratic values aside”.
Western engagement and Russian influence
Azerbaijan’s relationship with Russia has shifted following the shooting down of an Azerbaijani passenger plane in 2024. The country emerged from its 2023 victory in Nagorno-Karabakh as a more assertive regional player, while Moscow’s security influence has waned. Meanwhile, Europe’s push to reduce reliance on Russian energy has deepened its engagement with Azerbaijan, which relies on oil and gas exports for about half of its GDP.
Karimli argued that Russia’s “current reactionary and expansionist policies make genuine partnership difficult” and called for deeper integration with “Euro-Atlantic institutions” such as democracy, free elections, a free press, the rule of law and a free economy.
Long history of persecution
The APFP chairman has faced resistance for his views for years. He was slapped with a travel ban in 2005. In 2014, the party headquarters in Baku was destroyed in an explosion supporters believe was a deliberate provocation. In 2020, the party alleged that Karimli’s bodyguard was tortured for 12 hours to testify against him.
Amnesty International describes an “intensified crackdown on dissent” in which opposition figures and media “increasingly face harassment, arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions”. It calls the charges against Karimli “dubious” and demands his release unless evidence is provided.
Freedom House rates Azerbaijan 6/100 for Global Freedom, warning that corruption remains rampant and the formal political opposition “has been weakened by years of persecution”.
Window for action
Karimli’s daughter, Sezan, speaking from London, said the family has a “very narrow window” to act before the trial begins in June. “Aliyev is watching very closely what the international reactions are, and once the show trial begins, it’s very hard for me to think how he could back down at that point,” she said. “At this moment in time, he has the chance to quietly drop the charges and somehow save face.”
British officials from the embassy in Baku raised Karimli’s case with senior Azerbaijani government members on 4 December, urging due legal process and access to medical care. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We have raised Ali Karimli’s case with senior members of the Azerbaijani Government, including pressing them to follow due legal process and ensure necessary access to medical care in accordance with their international obligations and commitments.”
The government of Azerbaijan was approached for comment.
