Watchdog

A court in Baku has sentenced Azerbaijani opposition blogger Abdul Abilov to 5 1/2 years in prison.

Abilov's lawyer, Xalid Bagirov, told RFE/RL that his client was found guilty on May 27 of drug possession.

Bagirov said that he will appeal the sentence, which he called "unjust."

Abilov, 31, is known for his criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities. He was arrested in November 2013.

His sentencing comes one day after the chairman of an election watchdog in Azerbaijan, Anar Mammadli, and two associates were sentenced to several years in jail on charges of tax evasion, illegal business activities, and using their office to falsify election results.

Azerbaijani authorities have been criticized for cracking down even more severely on dissent after President Ilham Aliyev's reelection to a third consecutive term last year.

Rights defenders are calling on Iran to release a group of young people who were arrested in Tehran for making a video in which they danced to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy."

Those arrested -- including at least six young men and women -- were shown on state TV on May 20, where they expressed remorse.

They said they had been "tricked" and had not intended for the video to be made public.

In the footage on state TV, a police officer criticizes them for dancing in mixed company, which is against the law.

Bloomberg News reports that the video was posted online last month and received 30,000 hits in four days, before it was removed.

The U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran condemned the arrests, saying the youths "were breaking no law. It is sheer thuggery."

It is not clear what charges the youths face.

With reporting by Bloomberg News