Two members of the opposition Popular Front Party (PFP) have been administratively detained, though no charges have been disclosed. Party chair Ali Karimli has said that at least 10 members of the PFP have been detained since March, allegedly due to their connections to him.
Karimli first announced that the whereabouts of PFP members Valishan Hasanov and Farid Guliev was unknown on Thursday.
The following day, Karimli stated that Guliev had been remanded to pre-trial detention for 30 days, but that the charges against him have not been disclosed. Hasanov was located in the Binagadi Detention Centre on Saturday.
Seymur Hazi, a deputy chair of PFP, told OC Media that both Hasanov and Guliev were detained on administrative charges.
‘We have identified that Guliev was [remanded into pre-trial detention] for 30 days, but we have no information on how long Hasanov was [remanded into pre-trial detention] for’, Hazi said.
Karimli has criticised the arrests, saying the decision was made by President Ilham Aliyev.
‘The decision to systematically and consistently arrest people close to me was undoubtedly made by Ilham Aliyev’, Karimli wrote on social media, adding that he believed the authorities intended to intimidate members of his party and isolate him.
Karimli is currently embroiled in a legal battle with a former member of his party, Aydin Aliyev, who accuses him of slander. Aliyev was expelled from the party by Karimli in June 2019 after disclosing that he was a member of the Public Control Coalition, a pro-government organisation. In turn, Karimli called him a pro-government figure, which Aliyev has disputed.
Aytan Farhadova
