Ali Karimli, Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), has reported that Novruz Taghiyev—who had worked as his bodyguard on a voluntary basis—was subjected to 13 hours of torture on the day he was detained by police.
Karimli wrote on his Facebook page that Taghiyev was detained by four plainclothes police officers on May 20 while picking up his child from school. He was handcuffed and driven around the city of Baku in a car for nine hours.
Taghiyev’s lawyer, Nemat Karimli, stated that his client was taken to the Yasamal District Police Department around 8:00 p.m. that day and held there until midnight.
According to the lawyer, Taghiyev—who worked as a middleman in real estate transactions—was accused based on a complaint filed by a man named Nijat:
“Novruz helped Nijat find a house and accepted a 1,000-manat deposit from him, part of which he passed on to the property owner. Later, Nijat visited Novruz’s office with a man he introduced as his brother-in-law and tried to offer him a bottle of perfume and a bundle of cash. Novruz refused to take the money, and the perfume was left on the table. Police say Nijat filed a complaint alleging that 71,000 manats were fraudulently stolen from him,” said Nemat Karimli.
Ali Karimli called the charges against his bodyguard “fabricated, shameless, and a deliberate frame-up,” questioning the plausibility of the accusation:
“In this day and age, what homebuyer hands over money not to the seller but to a broker, without any formal agreement or notarization?”
Karimli added:
“Mr. Novruz is not only a committed party member but also a very honest and dignified man. Money means nothing to him. If he were someone who chased money, he wouldn’t be by my side. Like everyone else, Mr. Novruz knows where the money is in this country. He is a strong person who had long been prepared for imprisonment. He saw, just as we all do, the evil encircling us. I even told him not to be around me so that he might avoid arrest. But Mr. Novruz didn’t abandon his path or his struggle. He walked straight into danger with his eyes open. Unfortunately, his family is now also enduring great hardship. Mr. Novruz has two school-aged children and lives in a rented apartment. Think of the hardship his family is going through, and understand once again that we are fated to struggle against one of the most merciless and unjust regimes in the world.”
A criminal case has been opened against Taghiyev under the article on fraud in the Criminal Code, and a four-month pre-trial detention order has been issued.
On May 20, another individual who had worked as Karimli’s driver on a voluntary basis, Rashad Aliyev, was sentenced to 25 days of administrative detention.
Previously, on April 1, Karimli’s other voluntary driver, Zaur Rzali, was also administratively detained. On May 5, Asam Ali—who had driven the party chairman to events—and his bodyguard Kenan Ismayil were both sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention.
Another bodyguard of Karimli’s, Niyamaddin Ahmadov, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of financing terrorism. Yet another bodyguard, Kenan Basqal, was arrested in March on charges of stabbing someone. They all deny the charges.
Around 15 members of the PFPA are currently serving long-term prison sentences.