Critics of the government in Azerbaijan have been arrested under suspicious circumstances and convicted [HRW report] this month on politically-motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Gozel Bayramli, a member of the opposition party, Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, and Afgan Mukhtarli, a journalist, were arrested at two separate places along the Georgia border. During the arrests, authorities allegedly planted sums of foreign currency on the dissidents in excess of the amount allowed to be brought into the country.

Bayramli [RFE/RL story] and Mukhtarli [Azerbaijani Vision story] were both charged with smuggling under Article 206 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan [text, in Azerbaijani] and Mukhtarli was additionally charged with illegal border crossing under Article 318, and resisting police under Article 315.2. Bayramli was convicted on Tuesday in a court in Gazakh, and Mukhtarli was sentenced earlier on January 12 in Baku.

Azerbaijan has received backlash from human rights experts for its treatment of critics, and following Mukhtarli’s sentencing, a spokesperson for the European Commission called [press release] for Azerbaijan to review cases of imprisonment involving exercise of fundamental rights. The US State Department also urged [press release] the Azerbaijan government to release Mukhtarli and all those imprisoned under similar circumstances.