BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A former health minister of Azerbaijan who has been imprisoned since 2005 has been sentenced to seven more years behind bars.

Ali Insanov was convicted and sentenced Wednesday on charges of harboring psychotropic substances while in prison and of scuffling with a prison employee.

Insanov claimed the charges were cooked up to keep him imprisoned. His previous sentence was to have expired this year.

Insanov was arrested in 2005 and initially charged with plotting a government overthrow, but that was dropped and in 2007 he was convicted of illegal privatization of state assets.

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