Opposition leader detained in Azerbaijan’s continuing crackdown on dissent

Azerbaijani authorities detained opposition leader Ali Karimli on Saturday, his adviser said, marking the latest escalation in the country’s crackdown on dissent.

Karimli, chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, was not receiving phone calls and his home had been searched, adviser Fuad Gahramanli wrote on Facebook. Party board member Mammad Ibrahim was also detained and his residence searched.

Authorities provided no official information about the detentions. Government-aligned media reported the moves were connected to a criminal investigation into Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former head of the presidential administration who was reportedly charged in October with attempting to seize state power, high treason and money laundering. He is under house arrest, though authorities have not confirmed the charges.

Azerbaijan has intensified its crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech, targeting journalists, activists and independent politicians, according to human rights organizations.

President Ilham Aliyev has ruled the oil-rich Caspian nation of around 10 million people since 2003, when he succeeded his father, Haidar. Both leaders suppressed opposition, and elections since Azerbaijan’s independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s have not been considered fully free or fair by international observers.