An Azerbaijani court has sentenced the editor-in-chef of an opposition newspaper to a year in prison after being convicted on charges of libeling a lawmaker of the country's ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party.

The deputy editor, Parzim Kazimgolu, of the newspaper Milli Yol says a court in Baku found the publication's editor-in-chief Shakhin Agabeili guilty of libeling Arif Ragimzade.  Agabeili ran against Ragimzade during last year's parliamentary elections.

The case involved an article during the pre-election campaign in which the newspaper criticized Ragimzade.

Azerbaijan's Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has also filed suit against the Milli Yol newspaper over an article that linked the minister to a former security officer on trial in the killing of an opposition journalist and other crimes.

Wednesday the human rights group Amnesty International expressed concern about the level of "intimidation" against journalists in Azerbaijan.