The International Press Institute today condemned a six-year prison sentence given to Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli last week on charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing and assaulting state officials.

Mukhtarli, who had fled to Georgia with his wife Leyla Mustafayeva in 2015, was kidnapped in May 2017 and forcibly returned to Azerbaijan. Mukhtarli’s lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, has said that his client was abducted from his home in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and then driven through Georgian and Azerbaijani border checkpoints. After being severely beaten, Mukhtarli’s kidnappers are said to have planted 10,000 euros in his pockets, which led to the smuggling charges.

Before his exile, Mukhtarli was covering suspected corruption in circles linked to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. According to his wife, Mukhtarli was investigating Aliyev’s family’s business ties in Georgia at the time of the kidnapping. She said Mukhtarli would have never returned willingly to Azerbaijan for fear of being detained.

IPI has previously criticised Georgia for its failure to protect Mukhtarli and other rights groups have accused Georgia of being complicit in Mukhtarli’s abduction

Mukhtarli insisted upon his innocence in a final statement to the court prior to sentencing on Jan. 12.

“We are here, and we write and write. You cannot silence us,” Mukhtarli said in the court according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Umud Mirzayev, chair of IPI’s Azerbaijan National Committee, expressed disappointment with the court’s decision.

“I hope that the court will reinvestigate the case of Afgan Mukhtarli and adopt the decision about releasing him,” Mirzayev said.

IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen called for Mukhtarli’s conviction to be overturned on appeal.

“We are concerned that the prosecution of Afgan Mukhtarli is in retaliation for his investigative reporting on the Aliyev regime. His apparent kidnapping from Georgia last year and his sentencing last week highlight the danger that government critics in Azerbaijan continue to face and the arbitrary nature of the country’s judicial system.”

Both the European Parliament and the U.S. State Department, among other institutions, have condemned the jail sentence.

Azerbaijan has a long track of harassing investigative journalists. In 2015, an Azerbaijani court sentenced prominent investigative journalist Khadija Ismavilova to nine years in prison. She too was known for her coverage of Aliyev and his family. Ismavilova was released in 2016 following international pressure. In 2017, journalist and blogger Mehman Huseynov was convicted of defaming a police station after revealing alleged abuses he suffered at the police’s hands. He was sentenced to two years in prison in March.