The court has accepted the case against Azerbaijani opposition leader Taghiyev.

A Baku court has accepted a criminal case against Novruz Taghiyev, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, who served as a volunteer bodyguard for party leader Ali Karimli and is accused of fraud and document forgery.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Novruz Taghiyev, a bodyguard for the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, was arrested on May 21, 2025, in connection with a criminal fraud case. On December 10, Novruz Taghiyev was transferred from Baku Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 to the Yasamal District Temporary Detention Facility and faced another charge of document forgery.

On January 14, a preparatory hearing for Taghiyev's case was held at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, chaired by Vugar Guliyev, lawyer Nemat Kerimli told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

According to him, the defense filed three motions. "First of all, we motioned to dismiss the criminal case on acquittal grounds. The investigation failed to present credible evidence of Novruz Taghiyev's guilt. If this motion is denied, we asked the court to replace the preventive measure with house arrest. Another of our motions concerned removing Tagiev from the glass cage in the courtroom during the trial and allowing him to sit next to his lawyer. This is crucial for the effectiveness of the defense, as situations sometimes arise during the trial when a lawyer needs to provide on-site consultations to the client," said Kerimli.

However, the court, having accepted the case, granted only the latter motion. Starting from the next court hearing, Tagiev will sit next to his defense attorney during the trial.

Kerimli refrained from commenting on the details of the case until the start of the trial. However, he emphasized that Tagiev denies the charges and believes he is being persecuted for political reasons.

"The case against Novruz Tagiev is clearly political in nature. He was arrested for participating in the security detail for our party leader, Ali Kerimli." The arrests of those who were in Kerimli’s entourage began 5-6 years ago, when Kerimli’s driver Pasha Umudov https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/374062 and bodyguard Niyameddin Akhmedov https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/409976 ended up behind bars. "A new wave of arrests began a year ago, when criminal cases on trumped-up charges were brought against pro bono bodyguards Kenan Zeynalov https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/419023 and Novruz Tagiev. Several activists who transported Karimli to various events in their vehicles were subject to administrative arrest, and ultimately, the party chairman himself was arrested," Natig Adilov, head of the PFPA press service, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to him, "currently, two dozen PFPA members are languishing in prison on politically motivated criminal cases."

As a reminder, on November 29, State Security Service officers detained Ali Karimli and his advisor, Mammad Ibrahim, a member of the Presidium of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). Both opposition figures were remanded in custody for two and a half months, until February 13. Karimli was charged under Article 278.1 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code (actions aimed at the violent seizure of power or the violent change of the constitutional order of the state). He denied the charges and called his criminal case political persecution. On December 5, the Baku Court of Appeal rejected the appeal against Karimli's arrest.