Orkhan Bakhishli, a member of the Azerbaijani opposition Popular Front Party (PFP), was arrested and sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention for petty hooliganism and disobeying a police officer on Tuesday by the Khatai District Court.
Bakhishli’s mother, Kamala Rahimli, wrote on social media that her son had left home on Monday to meet one of his friends.
‘He left the house in the morning, and he did not respond to any calls’, she wrote.
On Tuesday, Rahimli stated that Bakhishli had been arrested.
‘Three years ago, on 2 February, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison for defamation on Youth Day [a public holiday in Azerbaijan], and again on the same day, he was detained by the police. How long will these slanderous statements continue?’, his mother questioned.
This is Bakhishli’s fourth arrest — the first was in May 2018 for the ‘acquisition and storage of large quantities of drugs’ for the purpose of sale, after which he was sentenced to six years in prison.
RFE/RL reported that the Supreme Court later ‘removed the purpose of sale from the charge’ and his sentencing period was reduced to three years.
In March 2021, Bakhishli was released after being pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev.
Bakhishli was then arrested in February 2023 and sentenced to 30 days in jail after attending the activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev’s trial — he was accused of disobeying the lawful order of a police officer or military service member, though it is unclear what exactly occurred.
Bakhishli’s third arrest occurred after a post on social media in October 2023, in which he published Aliyev’s photo taken in Stepanakert, writing that ‘the flag of the false republic was trampled on the 20th anniversary of its false presidency’.
‘Just as the people put an end to the occupation and the false republic, one day they will put an end to this deception and create the free, prosperous Azerbaijan they deserve’, Bakhishli wrote in his post.
Following this, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 days by the Khatai District Court for petty hooliganism.
On Monday, another PFP member, Elmar Farzaliev was also detained by the police.
Deputy PFP chair Seymur Hazi told OC Media that that same day, Farzaliev was taken for a drug test after which he was released.
‘We expected that he would be detained with the drug charges, but he was released. We also did not understand what was going on’.
PFP chair Ali Karimli and party member Mammad Ibrahim were detained by the State Security Service (DTX) on 29 November 2025 on charges of attempting a coup along with now-disgraced former presidential aide Ramiz Mehdiyev.
After Karimli’s and Ibrahim’s detention, four other party members were arrested.
Yousef Bardouka
