A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced Mamed Ibragim, a co-leader of the opposition Popular Front party, to three years in jail.

Ibragim’s lawyer said on Tuesday that his client was put on trial in September 2015 after authorities accused the politician of physically assaulting a former member of the party.

“We will appeal against the illegal verdict,” Yalchin Imanov said, slamming the charges of hooliganism leveled against Ibragim as fabricated and politically motivated.

“We have no trust in Azerbaijani justice, but we need to go through all the national courts before we take the case to the European Court of Human Rights,” he said.

Azerbaijan routinely prosecutes any form of dissent with rights advocates accusing President Ilham Aliyev of stepping up pressure on political opponents, critical journalists, and rights activists since he was re-elected for a third term in 2013.

The oil-rich Caspian Sea country has largely ignored international calls for improvement in the human rights situation. The government in Baku has also shown a tough response to demands within the country’s Shia community for more religious freedom.

Aliyev inherited power in 2003 from his father Haydar, who ruled Azerbaijan since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1993.