“Dozens of civil society activists, NGO leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders have been incarcerated in Azerbaijan in recent years. Two of them,” explained Saman Sardar (MPA ’16), “are CEU alumni.” Ilgar Mammadov graduated with a degree in political economy from CEU in 1997. He was an active member of the opposition in Azerbaijan and one of the leaders of the Republicanist Alternative Movement until he was sentenced to seven years in jail in March 2014.