One year on the edge – Ali Karimli is still in prison
“I am a prisoner of conscience”. Ali Karimli, from custody
This month marks nearly a year since the leader of Azerbaijan’s main opposition party was dragged from his own home by security forces. Ali Karimli is still behind bars, and the charges against him carry a potential sentence of life imprisonment.
Who is Ali Karimli?
Ali Karimli is a former State Secretary and a former member of parliament. He has been a leader of the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party (APFP) since the early 2000s and is one of the last publicly visible leaders of the country’s organized opposition. In his own words, he is a man who has spent his life organizing political events, protesting and defending democratic reform, which is precisely why the government has now turned that life into a crime.
How was he arrested?
On November 29, 2025, agents of the State Security Service (DTX) raided Karimli’s home in Baku. He was detained and held incommunicado for two days before anyone could confirm he was alive or where he was. His home was searched without his lawyer present, and his communications have been reported as restricted for years before this.
On December 1, 2025, the Sabail District Court formally charged him with attempting to violently seize state power and overthrow the president, a charge that, if proved, carries a potential long-term imprisonment. His detention was initially set to run until February 13, 2026. As of the latest reporting, he remains in a pre-trial detention facility, with the investigation still open and no trial date set.
Recent developments
The case against Ali Karimli has also become a window into what happens to political prisoners inside Azerbaijan’s detention system. His daughter, Sezan Karimli, told “The Independent” that her father has not allowed direct contact with the family since June. He has been denied food parcels from them. He has spent weeks without ventilation in cells where temperatures reach 30-35 degrees Celsius. Drinking water and electricity were cut off in early August. On August 6, 2026, during a court hearing to consider his appeal for transfer to house arrest, he fainted from severe dehydration. Karimli says he is unable to drink the tap water offered to him due to a gallbladder condition, leaving him with no safe source of hydration. His lawyers and family describe the denial of access to clean drinking water, the lack of ventilation, and the restriction of family visits as possible torture or other ill-treatment.
Amnesty International described his arrest as further evidence of the consolidation of authoritarian practices, warning that detaining opposition leaders under coup charges signals the government’s intent to crush dissent. While Human Rights Watch said Azerbaijan authorities have escalated abuse of the detained opposition leader and called for an end to punitive restrictions. The European Union stated it expects Azerbaijan to respect its international obligations, including access to independent legal aid and adequate healthcare for detainees. A member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said his detention shows how far Azerbaijan has moved away from European values. In June 2026, Ali Karimli spoke to “FRANCE 24” from prison, slamming the charges as entirely fabricated and politically motivated and warning that he risked assassination.