The defense reported pressure on the Azerbaijani defender Kerimli in the pre-trial detention center.

Next to the cell of the leader of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Ali Kerimli, there is a phone that rings every 15 minutes at night. The Kerimli rights protection committee believes this is part of a deliberate deterioration of his detention conditions.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on November 29, 2025, employees of the State Security Service detained the leader of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) Ali Kerimli and his advisor - member of the party's presidium Mamed Ibrahim. Both opposition figures were arrested. Kerimli is accused under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (actions aimed at the violent seizure of power or the violent change of the constitutional order of the state). He rejected the accusation and called his criminal case political persecution. On June 16, in the appellate court, Kerimli stated that his rights to phone calls were restricted. The chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Ali Kerimli, has been restricted access to information – his cell has no television, no radio, he is not given newspapers, and he has also been deprived of the right to make calls, his associates stated on June 26.

The rights protection committee of the chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Ali Kerimli, stated about the "ongoing violations of rights" of the opposition politician in the pre-trial detention center. As stated in the committee's statement received by the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot", Kerimli's detention conditions are "deliberately deteriorating".

In particular, it is noted that for about two months, the politician has been prohibited from making phone calls and meeting with family members. Furthermore, the statement continues, Kerimli is held in the same cell with a person who has mental issues, which "violates his peace".

"This person, accused of participating in a radical religious armed group abroad, wakes up every night, makes noise until morning, loudly recites religious incantations, bangs his head against the wall, and screams, preventing Ali Kerimli from sleeping," the committee's statement further notes.

According to the same source, there is a phone near Kerimli's cell that rings every 15 minutes at night. And repair work in the courtyard of the pre-trial detention center interferes with Kerimli's rest during the day.

Moreover, as stated in the committee's statement, the pre-trial detention center refuses to accept food for Kerimli, and his walking time in the courtyard of the pre-trial detention center has been reduced. The toilet in Kerimli's cell has not been cleaned for three weeks, and he has been banned from receiving newspapers, magazines, and written materials with excerpts from the media and social networks.

"Deliberate sleep disruption, creation of unsanitary conditions, and other restrictions should be viewed as actions aimed at harming Ali Kerimli's health, humiliating his honor and dignity," the statement further notes. The committee called on international organizations to respond to the situation and create an independent monitoring commission to oversee the politician's detention conditions.

According to a legal expert, the cases described by the Kerimli rights protection committee contain signs of violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture, as well as inhumane or degrading treatment.

"Sleep disruption, if it is regular and prolonged, creating conditions that hinder rest and health recovery, detention in unsanitary conditions, unjustified restrictions on contacts with relatives, access to information, and walks can collectively reach the threshold established by Article 3 of the European Convention and be recognized by the ECHR as a violation of Ali Kerimli's rights," noted the lawyer.

As previously noted in a conversation with a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" by one of Kerimli's lawyers, the defense's complaints about the politician's detention conditions were not accepted for consideration by either the district court or the appellate instance. In the future, the defense intends to appeal to the ECHR, raising the issue of rights violations under Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhumane treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights.