APFP activist Kenan Zeynalov has been sentenced to 9 years in prison.
The Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced the activist of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party and public bodyguard of opposition leader Ali Kerimli, Kenan Zeynalov, to nine years in prison in a case of inflicting injury. The defense stated that there was a lack of credible evidence and expressed its intention to appeal the verdict. The APFP calls the criminal prosecution of the activist fabricated and politically motivated.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", at the end of October 2025, associates stated that the rights of oppositionist Kenan Zeynalov (Basgal) were being violated in the pre-trial detention center. He was unjustly denied visits and phone calls with relatives. At the court hearing on July 23, the prosecutor proposed to sentence Zeynalov to 10 years in prison.
59-year-old Kenan Zeynalov was detained on March 21. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he is involved in the stabbing of a person due to a personal conflict: on the evening of March 21, a 36-year-old Anar Ragimov was hospitalized with a stomach wound in the Yeni-Guneshli settlement of the Surakhani district of Baku. Party members stated that the criminal case against Zeynalov was fabricated. In April, the appellate court in Baku rejected the appeal against his arrest. Kenan Zeynalov was a public bodyguard for the party leader Ali Kerimli.
On July 30, the trial of Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) activist Kenan Zeynalov concluded in the Baku Serious Crimes Court. The court sentenced him to 9 years in prison, reported the deputy chair of the party Saadat Jahangir to the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".
"Kenan Zeynalov was sent to prison for 9 years for a crime he did not commit based on fabricated, false accusations, a political order. He was punished for being an oppositionist, for being a public bodyguard for APFP leader Ali Kerimli and never leaving his side despite threats. Zeynalov's case is another link in the repressive campaign against the APFP. Two dozen members of our party, including the leader of the APFP Ali Kerimli, are currently languishing in Azerbaijani prisons on absurd, contrived charges. They are being persecuted for advocating freedom and democracy," Jahangir said.
According to her, Zeynalov himself also rejected the accusations in his final statement.
"Kenan Zeynalov said that the last straw that led to his arrest was his voluntarily given testimony in court in favor of politician Tofiq Yagublu," said the deputy chair of the APFP.
Zeynalov's lawyer Nazim Musaev informed the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" that the defense would appeal the verdict.
According to him, the prosecution did not present credible evidence against Zeynalov.
"The expert conclusion states that on the shirt of the victim Anar Ragimov, who allegedly suffered knife wounds, there are three adjacent holes. Reading the conclusion, it creates the impression that the knife strikes were carefully delivered in order. Since the shirt is a material evidence, we requested to examine it in court and check how accurate the expert's writing is. Moreover, the expert conclusion states that 'the knife was seized from the crime scene.' But it does not specify exactly where the knife was seized from - from the asphalt, from a stone, from grass, from the ground? Therefore, we insisted on questioning the expert, but the court did not satisfy this request," the lawyer previously said.
An employee of the Baku Serious Crimes Court confirmed the information about the verdict against Zeynalov.
Representatives of the prosecution were unavailable for comment.
It should be noted that earlier Azerbaijani human rights defenders recognized Zeynalov as a political prisoner.
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