Azeri activist Giyas Ibrahimov was arrested on what Amnesty International calls trumped up drug charges after tagging a a statue of Azerbaijan’s former president with graffiti.

Giyas Ibrahimov, a 22-year-old activist, was sentenced on Tuesday to ten years in prison after spray-painting anti-regime messages on a statue.

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The additions to the statue read “Fuck the System” in English and “Congratulations on Slaves´ Day” in Azeri, both accompanied with the anarchist "A" symbol.

The Azeri inscription is a pun: "gul" in Azeri means flower, while "qul" means slave.

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The two young men — both members of NIDA, a pro-democracy movement — were arrested the next day on drug charges, according to Amnesty International, but were only questioned about the graffiti.

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On May 17, Mammadov's lawyer wrote on Facebook that his client had been subjected to torture while in police custody, posting a picture of what he claimed to be a handwritten letter from Mammadov.

"They brought me to the office of the chief officer, where there were 7-8 officers in civilian clothes," the letter reads. "They immediately began punching, slapping and kicking me and asking me why I had taken pictures of the graffiti, who was my associate and so on. However, I was not able to answer their questions as I lost my hearing and shortly thereafter lost consciousness."

The letter went on to say that Mammadov signed a confession presented to him to end the beatings.

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