Vienna, 01/09/2015
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned a today court decision in Azerbaijan sentencing famous investigative journalist Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, born 1976, to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Ismayilova, former head of the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from Prague, who has been arrested in December 2014, was also barred from holding public office for three years. Prosecutors in the case had requested a nine-year sentence.
The court acquitted Ismayilova of a charge of inciting an individual to attempt suicide. SEEMO is reporting about lack of transparency in this case. In 2010 a series of her articles caused controversy as they explicitly named Azerbaijan’s current President and his family as engaging in corruption.
The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.