On October 14, the Sabail District Court of Baku ruled on the criminal case involving Ramiz Mehdiyev, the former Head of the Administration of the President of Azerbaijan. According to information released by the pro-government media, the court granted the petition against Mehdiyev, who faced charges of committing particularly serious crimes, and imposed a preventive measure of house arrest for four months.

The investigation, carried out by the State Security Service, charged Mehdiyev under Articles 278.1 (acts aimed at seizing state power), 274 (treason), and 193-1.3.2 (legalization of property obtained by crime) of the Criminal Code. The sanction limit under these articles extends up to life imprisonment. Given Mehdiyev’s advanced age, the investigative body deemed it appropriate to keep him under house arrest during the preliminary investigation.

Notably, Ramiz Mehdiyev served as the Head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan from 1995 to 2019, under both President Heydar Aliyev and his son, Ilham Aliyev. He was often referred to as the "gray cardinal" due to his influential role in Azerbaijani politics. After his tenure in the presidential administration, he led the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan from 2019 until 2022. Mehdiyev's ties to Russia were notably close. According to local media reports, he played a pivotal role in facilitating the establishment of Sputnik Azerbaijan, a branch of the Russian state news agency Rossiya Segodnya, in Baku. This move was allegedly made without consulting Azerbaijan's top leadership, indicating his strong pro-Russian stance. Additionally, he held meetings with high-ranking Russian officials, including Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Presidential Administration, and Alexander Beglov, his deputy, to discuss governance and administrative practices. Mehdiyev was also awarded Russia's Order of Honor, highlighting the depth of his connections with Moscow.