Azerbaijan jailed activist Intigam Aliyev on Friday, the latest in a string of arrests of government critics. Aliyev, a 51-year-old anti-corruption campaigner who heads the group Legal Education Society, was charged with tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and abuse of office. He denies the charges. On Friday, police searched his home, seizing his computer and other equipment, as well as three souvenir knives. A court swiftly jailed him for three months, his lawyer Anar Gasymly said.
"Intigam Aliyev believes the real reason for his arrest is his rights activism, such as writing complaints to the European Court of Human Rights and exposing corruption," said Gasymly. Aliyev is well known at home and abroad as a lawyer and campaigner. Last year he received the annual Homo Homini prize from Czech rights organisation People in Need which praised his "personal courage and exceptional commitment to defending persecuted individuals". The Azerbaijan government is highly intolerant of dissent. Several prominent rights activists have been imprisoned since President Ilham Aliyev's election last year to a third term.
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