Azerbaijan: Baku court rejects Ismayilova's request to clear her record
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 7 October 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azerbaijan: Baku court rejects Ismayilova's request to clear her record, 7 October 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a0a43.html [accessed 27 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. |
October 07, 2016
Khadija Ismayilova
An appellate court in Azerbaijan has rejected an appeal by investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who had asked for the removal from her record of charges for illegal entrepreneurship.
Ismayilova's lawyer, Fariz Namazli, said the Baku-based court rejected the appeal on October 7.
Ismayilova, a contributor to RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service and laureate of numerous international awards for her journalism, was arrested in December 2014 on charges that have been widely criticized as a politically motivate response to her investigative reporting on corruption involving Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and members of his family.
She eventually was convicted of illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, misappropriation of property, and other charges and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
But in May, Azerbaijan's Supreme Court annulled some of the charges against Ismayilova and ordered her release after reducing her sentence to a 3 1/2 year suspended prison term.
In August, Ismayilova's suspended sentence was reduced again to two years and three months.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
