According to The Independent, Karimli accused the regime of politically-motivated detentions, torturing his staff and blowing up his party headquarters. Multiple reports indicate he was held incommunicado for two days before being remanded on pre-trial detention. His trial was expected in February but pushed back to June, and he remains at a high-security facility in Baku.
The opposition leader described the charges as bogus, claiming they are the precise inversion of his documented position, according to The Independent. Rights groups have identified at least 340 people detained as political prisoners, including journalists and activists. A 22-year-old regime critic died by apparent suicide in December; an investigation was never published, according to multiple reports.
The repressive campaign already underway ... has now reached its peak with my arrest.
Karimli believes his case is motivated by a calculation that the international community is too distracted by other issues, and that the regime under Ilham Aliyev believes European governments will set aside democracy concerns for energy security, according to The Independent.
It signals that a new era has begun - one in which the authorities intend to eliminate organised political opposition in Azerbaijan permanently.
The regime here is extremely harsh.
The State Security Service detention facility has the strictest conditions in the country.
For someone who has committed no administrative or criminal offence — who has dedicated his life to peaceful democratic advocacy — the severity of the restrictions is, of course, deeply unpleasant.
precise inversion of my documented, published position
too distracted
courage
looking the other way