10 Worst Dictators In Power Today

Ilham Aliyev is the President of Azerbaijan and has been since he took office in 2003. Aliyev was elected into power four times since his first run for office, but changes to the constitution of Azerbaijan have brought his administration to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) and other election verification bodies.

As part of his third election in 2008, a referendum abolished presidential term limits, which violated both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Azerbaijani constitution. It only got worse with his 2013 election thanks to a smartphone app designed to show ballot-counting in real time.

Instead of showing ballot-counting, the app accidentally showed the results of the election... before the voting even took place. The rigged election was dismissed by the candidate, but by nobody else. Amnesty International became involved and nations around the world reprimanded the process, but he won the office regardless. He won again in 2018 though few people believe it was a fair and free election.

Aside from essentially taking power permanently, Aliyev was declared the "corruptor of the year" by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in 2012. His administration is corrupt beyond imagining, which has financially benefited him and his family to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.