Opposition figure Bakhruz Gasanli was detained in Kharkiv at the request of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani opposition activist, member of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, Bakhruz Gasanli, was detained in Kharkiv at the request of official Baku. Gasanli's associates linked the case against him to the criminal prosecution of PFPA activists, including the party leader Ali Kerimli.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on November 29, 2025, employees of the State Security Service detained the leader of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (PFPA) Ali Kerimli and his advisor – member of the party's presidium Mamed Ibrahim. Both opposition figures were arrested. Kerimli was accused of actions aimed at a violent seizure of power. 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. Kerimli's access to information is limited – 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 said on June 26.
Associates reported details of Gasanli's detention
PFPA activist Bakhruz Gasanli was detained on July 27 in Kharkiv at the request of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, reported the party's press secretary Natig Adilov.
Gasanli was taken to the Shevchenkivskyi District Police Department in Kharkiv, noted Adilov. "I managed to briefly communicate with Bakhruz. His name allegedly appears in some conflict involving two individuals. Bakhruz allegedly committed fraud against them and was therefore declared wanted by Azerbaijan," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
According to the investigation, Bakhruz Gasanli supposedly took hundreds of thousands of manats from certain individuals to transfer to the chairman of the PFPA, Ali Kerimli. Kerimli rejects these claims, continued the party's press secretary. The activist's associates believe that he is being used to add a new dimension to the case against Ali Kerimli.
"Bakhruz is expected to stand trial. <…> We hope that law enforcement agencies do not become executors of a political order from Baku," said Natig Adilov.
He added that in the past, Gasanli was a bodyguard for Kerimli on a voluntary basis.
Bakhruz Gasanli himself managed to write about his detention on his Facebook page*. "Friends, I was detained at the request of the Azerbaijani government in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, we are now going to the police," he noted in a post published on July 27.
Journalists from the Azerbaijani internet resource Qazetci, published in Germany, managed to contact Bakhruz Gasanli. He informed them that law enforcement officers took him from work.
"So far, no official charges have been brought against me. But I was verbally told that the General Prosecutor's Office sent a request to Ukraine regarding the criminal case against Ali Kerimli. The General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan is requesting my extradition," Gasanli was quoted by Qazetci, the translation of the publication was done by a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
Gasanli believes that since the charges against Ali Kerimli and the PFPA are politically motivated, the request for his detention has political goals behind it.
The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan called on the Ukrainian authorities not to allow Gasanli's extradition, noting that the activist has lived in Ukraine for many years as a political émigré. The authors of the appeal, the translation of which was done by a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot", noted that Gasanli faces persecution from the authorities in Azerbaijan. The NCDF called on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure an objective consideration of Gasanli's case and guarantee the protection of his rights.
The NCDF also appealed to the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the OSCE, international human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions in Ukraine, urging them to monitor the situation and take measures to protect the rights of Bakhruz Gasanli.
"Caucasian Knot" currently does not have a comment from the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan.
Critics of the Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly faced detentions in Ukraine
The Ukrainian authorities have previously detained Azerbaijani activists multiple times. For example, on October 14, 2017, Fikret Huseynli, who received political asylum and citizenship in the Netherlands, was detained at Kyiv airport. Azerbaijani law enforcement initiated his international search on charges of fraud and illegal border crossing. Huseynli rejected these charges.
In December 2019, blogger Elvin Isayev was detained in Ukraine for violating immigration laws and deported to Azerbaijan, where he was arrested on criminal charges of public calls against the state and inciting mass riots.
Human rights defenders and lawyers questioned the legality and transparency of the deportation, not excluding the involvement of special services. The General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan stated that Isayev is being held in custody based on a court decision, charges have been brought against him with the participation of a lawyer, and the conditions of his detention comply with standards. According to lawyer Gyulara Ilyasova, Isayev admitted his guilt and did not complain about the conditions of his detention.