Ilgar Mammadov’s latest appeal will be heard on 10 August in the city of Shaki.

The leader of the Republican Alternative Party (ReAl) was arrested in February 2013 after blogging about riots in the town of Ismayilli. In March 2014 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly organizing mass disorder and resisting arrest.

Mammadov remains in prison, although the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that his rights to liberty and a fair trial were violated, and that his imprisonment is intended to silence his criticism of the government. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has triggered infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan for refusing to release Mammadov, the first time the committee has taken such a step against any country.

Mammadov’s previous appeal was heard by the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan on 2 July. The court annulled previous decisions and sent the appeal back to the lower courts, in a move that some have said is calculated to delay the final ruling and extend Mammadov’s imprisonment.