Opposition figure Gulu Mammadli stated that the arrest of Ali Karimli, leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was expected, but the reasons go beyond simple criticism of the authorities. According to Mammadli, Karimli's publications in major Western media have increased his political significance and visibility abroad, which has caused concern among the Azerbaijani authorities.
The Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow recognized as illegal the 24th refusal of the UK to open a criminal case against the SD officers. In 2016, they broke into the apartment of the natives of Dagestan, the son and father of Murad and Firuddin Ragimov and brutally tortured them. Murada, according to relatives, planted drugs and sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment.
According to the «Committee against Torture», the decision of the Moscow court was adopted following the ruling of the ECHR. The court found that torture had taken place and awarded the victims compensation of 26,000 euros each. The Investigation Committee should now resume the verification of Ragimov’s statement.
In August 2016, SOBR employees broke into Ragimov’s Moscow apartment. Murad, 22, demanded recognition for extremism. His father, Firuddin, was also beaten and kicked, choked, and had his foot electrocuted with a crystal candy cane. His father Firuddin was also subjected to electric shocks. Murad was later sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for illegal possession of drugs, which were planted with the word of his family.