Azerbaijan detains opposition leader on coup plot charges: media

A court in Azerbaijan has sent prominent opposition leader Ali Kerimli to more than two months of pre-trial detention on charges of plotting a coup, pro-government media reported Monday.

Kerimli, 60, the long-time head of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, was detained over the weekend in a sweeping operation carried out by the state security service, the news websites Report.az and Oxu.az said.

The Sabail District Court in Baku ruled that Kerimli and his close ally Mamad Ibrahim "be held in custody for two months and 15 days pending investigation on charges of attempting to seize power by force or violently altering the constitutional order," the outlets reported, citing a court source.

If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

Kerimli has led the Popular Front Party since the late 1990s and is one of the most outspoken critics of Azerbaijan's ruling Aliyev family, which has dominated the country's politics for three decades.

The arrests came as authorities pursue a sweeping criminal case involving Ramiz Mehdiyev, the powerful former head of the presidential administration.

Mehdiyev was charged in October with attempting to seize power, high treason and the legalisation of illicit property.

A towering figure in Azerbaijani politics, Mehdiyev served for decades under both President Ilham Aliyev and his father and predecessor Heydar Aliyev, earning a reputation as a behind-the-scenes power broker.

He was placed under four months of house arrest by the same Sabail District Court now overseeing Kerimli's case.

Azerbaijan, a tightly controlled oil-rich former Soviet republic, has long faced criticism from rights groups for suppressing political dissent and muzzling independent media.

Ilham Aliyev has ruled the country since 2003, after succeeding his father Heydar, a former Communist leader and KGB general.