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When an autocrat who is intolerant of dissent begins to see spies and traitors around, it is a good time to be alert. Now is such a moment in Azerbaijan, reads The Washington Post.

The regime of President Ilham Aliyev has imprisoned one of the country’s most outspoken advocates for human rights, Leyla Yunus, and her husband, Arif. The charges: treason, fraud, tax evasion and illegal business activities.

According to the article Ms. Yunus is director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy in Baku, a human rights organization, and, in addition to her work defending political prisoners, she has been at the forefront of attempts to bridge the country’s long hostility with Armenia. She organized exchanges and confidence-building efforts between Azeri and Armenian intellectuals, and this apparently provided the pretext for the absurd charge of espionage. Ms. Yunus was arrested on 30 July and her husband on 5th of August.

For years, Ms. Yunus has spoken out loudly about human rights abuses in Azerbaijan. Another human rights activist, Rasul Jafarov, was also arrested recently, and dozens of others have been detained for political reasons in recent months. Mr. Aliyev may think he is being clever by silencing critics, the article reads.

“Mr. Aliyev may think he is being clever by silencing critics while a crisis in Ukraine has distracted world attention. But that’s what is different from Soviet times. It is no longer possible to hide such uncivilized behavior. The arrests have drawn wide protests from human rights groups and other nongovernmental organizations. Ms. Yunus wrote an open letter from her jail cell, referring to “jackals of the regime” and declaring: “You could not withstand our words. You responded with violence,” the publication writes.

The Washington Post notes that it is beyond comprehension how Mr. Aliyev can carry out such repression at a time when Azerbaijan is chair of the committee of ministers of theCouncil of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights organization. Mr. Aliyev clearly craves respect abroad. But his actions deserve condemnation.

“Leyla and Arif Yunus should be freed immediately. If they are not, perhaps the Council of Europe should ask how long it can tolerate a chairmanship by a nation that does not respect even the basic tenets of human rights and rule of law,” the article reads.