Azerbaijan: Journalist Khadija Ismayilova free but conviction must be quashed
| Publisher | Amnesty International |
| Publication Date | 25 May 2016 |
| Cite as | Amnesty International, Azerbaijan: Journalist Khadija Ismayilova free but conviction must be quashed, 25 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574690044.html [accessed 24 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The release of Khadija Ismayilova by Azerbaijan's Supreme Court is a welcome step but she will not have obtained justice until her conviction is quashed, said Amnesty International.
Khadija Ismayilova was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment at a trial in September 2015 under trumped-up charges of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion and abuse of office. The Supreme Court today reduced her sentence to a suspended term of three and a half years, after it reversed two of the initial four charges against her.
"Khadija Ismayilova must be fully acquitted if she is ever to obtain justice for her wrongful imprisonment," said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.
"Numerous other prisoners of conscience are still in jail for exercising their right to freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and must also be freed to break this dangerous pattern of fear and repression."
Khadija Ismayilova, who worked for Radio Free Europe, was investigating and reporting on corruption at the highest levels in Azerbaijan's government, including family members of the President, Ilham Aliyev.
Amnesty International recognized her as a prisoner of conscience and, along with other human rights groups, campaigned extensively for her release. Khadija Ismayilova received the UNESCO World Press Freedom prize in earlier this month.
