The Yeni Fikir (New Thought) chairman Ruslan Bashirli was sentenced to seven years in prison, while his deputies Ramin Taghiyev and Said Nuriyev - to four and five years respectively, AssA-Irada reports.

The judge ordered a three-year probation for Nuriyev, considering his illness, with a subsequent two-year term in a reformatory.

Nuriyev said after the proceedings that Yeni Fikir representatives would appeal the verdict and take the case as far as to the European court.

"We are not content with the ruling. International organizations have no doubt that we are political prisoners and we will be released in a speedy manner," he maintained.
The group executives were arrested in August 2005 on charges of a coup plot and illegal entrepreneurship.

/AzerNEWS/