Azerbaijani Anticorruption Blogger Sentenced To Two Years In Prison

BAKU -- An Azerbaijani blogger known for reports seeking to document corruption has been convicted of libel and sentenced to two years in prison.

A court in Baku convicted Mehman Huseynov of libel on March 3 for statements he made about police.

Huseynov and his lawyer Elcin Sadiqov said the verdict and sentence are politically motivated.

Huseynov was detained on January 9 and found guilty the following day of resisting police.

Police filed libel charges against Huseynov after he said on January 10 that officers had beaten him and demanded he stop his anticorruption activities.

In December and January, Huseynov had posted photographs of luxury homes he alleged belonged to government officials and lawmakers.

Human rights groups accuse long-ruling President Ilham Aliyev's government of fabricating criminal cases to stifle dissent and media freedom in the oil-producing Caspian Sea Country.