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Half of the presidential candidates in Azerbaijan have a criminal past, the Azerbaijani news portal "Haqqin.az" reveals. "Thus, the presidential candidate of "Modern Musavat" party Hafiz Hajiyev is the "most experienced one" among his opponents. He has been arrested twice so far," writes the site.

According to the information, Hajiyev was imprisoned in 1993 for the first time by the order of the former Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Surat Huseynov. For the second time, the presidential candidate was imprisoned in 1996 for a term of three years.

"The other candidate for president, the chairman of the party "Umid", MP Iqbal Agazadeh was arrested on October 22, in 2004. The Special Criminal Court deprived Iqbal Aghazadeh of liberty for a term of 3 years for attending and organizing the riots in October 2003; on March 20, in 2005, he was pardoned," the publication reads.

The candidate of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan Sardar Jalaloglu was also arrested in October 2003 - during the protests after the presidential election. According to the court Jalaloglu was imprisoned for a term of 4 years and 6 months, and was also pardoned in 2005, says "Haqqin.az."

According to the portal, the chairman of the National Revival Party Faraj Guliyev spent 7 years of his life in jail: Guliyev was sentenced from 1995 to 2002 as a political prisoner.

"The chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (ASDP) Araz Alizadeh recently told the local media that in 1985 he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. However, according to Alizadeh, he was arrested for his political views," concludes the site.
The presidential elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled on 9 October 2013. The previous presidential elections were held on 15 October 2008. The incumbent president Ilham Aliyev is on this position for two terms already - since 2003. In March 2009 a referendum on making amendments to the Constitution was held in Azerbaijan, which repealed the restriction on one person remaining in office for more than two consecutive terms. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe stated in this regard, "Giving one person the right to be repeatedly elected to the presidency is seen as a step backwards in the development of democracy."