Elbeyi Karimli, a member of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP), has been on a hunger strike since May 23.
He told his relatives that he is protesting his “unjust imprisonment based on fabricated charges.”
Karimli was arrested in August 2023 after writing “Stalin” on the statue of Heydar Aliyev.
“I’m here today because I wrote ‘Stalin’ on the back of Heydar Aliyev’s statue. At the police station, they told me, ‘You have to choose: drugs or weapons—otherwise, you’ll be charged with treason. We’ll load pictures of military facilities onto your phone and accuse you of passing military secrets to Armenia or Iran.’ My mouth went dry when I heard this. They said, ‘Don’t make us find a kilo in your home like we did with Qiyas…’” Karimli reportedly told his lawyer after his detention.
In 2024, the Baku Court for Grave Crimes sentenced him to six years in prison under the article of the Criminal Code pertaining to possession of a large quantity of drugs with intent to sell.
Later, the Supreme Court removed the “intent to sell” charge from the verdict, reducing his sentence to five years.
In May 2016, two civic activists—Qiyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov—were arrested on drug charges after writing “Happy Slave Holiday!” on the statue of former president Heydar Aliyev. Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison. They were later released in 2019 by a presidential pardon.