U.S. Sanctions Azerbaijani Official for Torture of Detainees

The United States has imposed sanctions on Azerbaijani police chief Kerim Alimardanov for human rights violations. This information was disclosed in a statement published on the official website of the U.S. State Department. Alimardanov is an employee of the Main Department for the Fight Against Organized Crime at Azerbaijan's Ministry of Internal Affairs, and according to the U.S. State Department, he was involved in the torture of detainees in 2015 and 2016.

The American side has not revealed the nature of the restrictions. The Turan agency reports that this is the first instance of international sanctions being applied to a representative of the Azerbaijani government.