Opposition candidates were imprisoned and repressed in the lead-up to the elections, which led the European Court of Human Rights to issue a judgment against the Aliyev regime.

[4] OSCE monitors reported candidate and voter intimidation and a restrictive media environment, including arrests and the use of force against journalists and activists.

[8] The constitutional amendment was condemned by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, which stated that "the abolition of existing limits preventing the unlimited re-election of a President is a step back, in terms of democratic achievements".

After his visit to Azerbaijan the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon called on the authorities to fully respect their obligations.

The NCDF brought together main opposition forces, including Musavat, the Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, Open Society, Forum of Intellectuals.

[24][2][25] On 10 October 2013, Hasanli called for the results to be annulled due to alleged vote-rigging, claiming the elections were not free and fair because of electoral fraud and government control of all television channels.

The Chief of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Ramiz Mehdiyev, accused the US officials in recommending them to rig the elections to show that the incumbent President Ilham Aliyev was winning with 75% of the votes and to give 25% to the opposition candidate, to make it look believable.

[34] The controversial assessments by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe/European Parliament and OSCE/ODIHR sparked a major scandal, as for the first time the reports of these authoritative European organizations openly contradicted one other.

[36][37][38][39] The Socialist Group in the European Parliament has distanced itself from the words of the observer mission EP / PACE, stating that the differences between the findings of the delegation of parliamentarians and the OSCE are so far away that it cannot be supported at all.