Jamil Hasanli: My nephew was beaten by Bilasuvar police and pressured to speak against Ali Karimli and me

National Council chairman Jamil Hasanli said his nephew Agil Aliyev was detained by police officers and beaten at the Bilasuvar District Police Department. He made the statement in a social media post on November 6.

According to Jamil Hasanli, his nephew was asked to speak out against Ali Karimli, the jailed chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP). He wrote: “Apparently, they are preparing a ‘nationwide’ campaign against Ali bey during his trial. Yesterday a group of police officers came to a gym in Bilasuvar and took my nephew Agil Aliyev to the police station. There they told him: go on television and speak against Ali Karimli and your uncle Jamil Hasanli. Say that Ali Karimli and Jamil Hasanli are leading the people astray. Although Ali Karimli is in prison, Jamil Hasanli deceives young people with his speeches and leads them astray. Go and appeal to young people not to believe them, and say that you do not believe them either.”

He claimed that after Agil Aliyev refused, he was beaten on the orders of the head of the Bilasuvar District Police Department, Nasib Mammadov, and threatened with his two daughters. Jamil Hasanli also said Agil Aliyev's car was being held at the police station. According to him, his nephew's body is covered in bruises.

Jamil Hasanli added that Agil Aliyev had faced similar pressure before. According to him, several years ago, on the eve of Agil's wedding, police officers demanded that his uncle Jamil Hasanli not attend the wedding. Hasanli described the events as part of a campaign against Ali Karimli and those close to him ahead of Karimli's trial.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Bilasuvar District Police Department have not made any statement on the allegations.

A day earlier, Jamil Hasanli had also posted about the ban on his leaving the country. He said that because of this restriction he would be unable to attend the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New Orleans, USA, on January 7–10, 2027. According to him, on November 30, 2025, he was questioned as a witness in the investigation into former head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev, and a travel ban was imposed on him.

Ramiz Mehdiyev was charged with high treason, attempting to seize power by force and legalising criminally obtained property, and last month was sentenced to 14 years of conditional imprisonment. APFP chairman Ali Karimli and his deputy Mammad Ibrahim were arrested at the end of November 2025. Both were given a final charge under Article 278.1 of the Criminal Code – actions aimed at seizing power by force or forcibly changing the constitutional order of the state. This article carries a penalty of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.