In the end the case turned on whether charges could be brought under an act of 1925 that had banned the sale of honours after Lloyd George's flagrant abuses.

ECONOMIST: Cash for honours

This other Mr Aliev denies the existence of flagrant human-rights abuses and cannot overcome a reflexive post-Soviet suspicion of opposition, or the belief that only overwhelming election victories count.

ECONOMIST: Azerbaijan's election: A Caspian contradiction | The

But the other Mr Aliev is secretly in cahoots with them, denies the existence of flagrant human-rights abuses and cannot overcome a reflexive post-Soviet suspicion of opposition, or the belief that only overwhelming election victories count.

ECONOMIST: The two faces of Azerbaijan and its president | The