Authorities in Azerbaijan have said a second former government minister was arrested on charges of involvement in a coup plot against President Ilham Aliev, deepening political tensions ahead of next month's key parliamentary elections.
The arrest of former Health Minister Ali Insanov came two days after former Economic Development minister Farhad Aliev was taken into custody on charges of taking part in plans for a coup attempt in the former Soviet republic. The two Alievs are not related.
Prosecutors allege both fired ministers were planning a coup in coordination with Rasul Guliyev, an opposition leader who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for the past decade.
Mr Guliyev, a former parliament speaker who fled the country amid charges of misappropriating government money, had planned to return to Azerbaijan earlier this week to rally opposition supporters before the Nov. 6 elections but was detained in Ukraine on an international warrant when his plane made a refueling stop.
Mr Guliyev, who maintains the charges against him are trumped up, was released today after a Ukrainian court said the arrest materials from Azerbaijan were insufficient to hold him any longer. He then left Ukraine for London.
Tensions have been rising in Azerbaijan ahead of the parliamentary elections, which opposition leaders allege will be rigged by the government.
Frequent street protests have stirred government fears of an uprising similar to those that helped topple the government in three other former Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan following flawed elections over the past two years.
In a joint statement by the prosecutor-general's office and the Interior and National Security ministries, authorities said $2.3 million in US and European currency was found in a police search of Insanov's apartment.
Authorities also said the head of the Health Ministry's pharmaceutical section, Akif Maharramov, was arrested for alleged involvement in the coup plot and police found $1.23 million in his apartment.