Meydan TV: Actor and blogger Akhmed Akhmedov died after being detained by security forces.

Azerbaijani actor Akhmed Akhmedov, known for his critical publications about the country's authorities, spent several days in a Baku police station and died.

Akhmed Akhmedov, known for his roles in the TV series "Thieves' Life" and the feature film "Atropatena," was an active social media user and regularly expressed criticism of Azerbaijan's political leadership.

Some time ago, Akhmedov recorded a video in which he impersonated Heydar Aliyev. In this role, he voiced criticism of the current President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

“Ilham, this is not the kind of state I left you. Son, can’t you see that the state is on the brink of collapse? It’s barely hanging on, and you don’t see it? It seems to me that you are not running this state,” Meydan TV quotes Akhmedov’s monologue as the elder Aliyev today. Meydan TV quotes Akhmedov as the elder Aliyev. 

Further in the video, Akhmedov claims that the country was “divided” by relatives of Azerbaijan’s First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and certain “Jews.” He also claims that Ilham Aliyev’s older sister was categorically against her father’s decision to appoint him as his successor.

The actor's death was reported by Tural Sadigli, a political émigré and the author of the YouTube channel Azad Söz (Free Speech), and Natig Adilov, head of the press service of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan. "Horror: Akhmed Bey has been killed, Azerbaijan is sinking into shame," Adilov wrote on his Facebook page*.

According to Sadigli, after the video was published, the actor was detained and taken to a police station in Baku, where he was held for several days before his death. After his arrest, Akhmedov reportedly suffered physical abuse, and shortly before his death, he was placed in a psychiatric hospital, where he died. The opposition leader stated that medical intervention was the cause of his death in the hospital.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the management of Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 in the village of Mashtaga did not comment on the reports of Akhmed Akhmedov's detention and the circumstances of his death.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that Azerbaijani opposition figures had previously reported the arbitrary detention of government critics in psychiatric hospitals. Thus, in 2024, the wife of convicted Azerbaijani opposition figure Agil Humbatov claimed that he had been groundlessly transferred to the psychiatric ward of a prison hospital and was being administered psychotropic drugs.

In 2023, security forces forcibly placed Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Party (ADPP) activist Ziyafat Abbasova in a psychiatric hospital, confiscating her mobile phone. Party members reported that Abbasova had criticized the authorities, and security forces had previously threatened her with forced treatment.

The Caucasian Knot posts news about cases of persecution of activists in the Caucasus regions on a special thematic page, "Persecution of Activists." The "Handbook" section of the Caucasian Knot includes a report, "Persecution of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Activists in Azerbaijan."