JournalismPakistan.com | Published 10 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
Azerbaijan on Tuesday sentenced award-winning investigative journalist and anti-graft campaigner Khadija Ismayilova to seven and a half years in jail on corruption charges she denounced as trumped-up, her lawyer said.
“Baku’s Court for Serious Crimes sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to seven and a half years in prison for economic crimes, including illegal entrepreneurship and tax evasion,” her lawyer Fariz Namazly told AFP. “We will appeal the illegal verdict,” he added.
Considered Azerbaijan’s most prominent critical journalist, Ismayilova, 39, served as bureau chief for the local service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network between 2008 and 2010.
Held in pre-trial detention since December, Ismayilova had denounced her prosecution as politically motivated and an attempt to stop her critical reporting.
In her final statement to the court on Monday, she said prosecutors and court officials had “resorted to more and more lies and fakery.”
“They won’t be able to force me to stay silent, even if they sentence me to 15 or 25 years,” she vowed.
The journalist has fearlessly probed the alleged vast riches amassed by President Ilham Aliyev and his family.
Her supporters say the charges against her have been concocted by a government anxious to silence one of the few voices of independent journalism in the oil-rich former Soviet country.
Rights groups accuse the government of Azerbaijan of stepping up pressure on opponents after Aliyev’s reelection to a third term in 2013.
Earlier this month, Azerbaijan jailed a prominent rights activist couple to lengthy jail terms in a case that was also decried as politically motivated.
Aliyev, 53, strongly denies accusations of rights abuses, while his administration has dismissed such criticism as a smear campaign.
Aliyev took over after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled newly independent Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993. - AFP
November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.
November 01, 2025: A viral Samaa TV clip featuring MNA Sher Afzal Marwat’s crude remarks and Talat Hussain’s laughter raises questions about the declining ethics of Pakistani television.
October 31, 2025: Police foiled a plot to kill DawnNewsTV journalist Tahir Naseer in Rawalpindi after arresting suspects hired for Rs200,000. Naseer says threats followed his reporting.
October 31, 2025: CPJ calls on Pakistan to bring Imtiaz Mir’s killers to justice after the journalist was allegedly murdered by a banned militant group in Karachi.
October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.
October 30, 2025: NewsOne TV remains on air but faces mass layoffs and delayed salaries, exposing Pakistan’s worsening media crisis and financial instability.
October 28, 2025: Sindh Police arrested four suspects linked to a banned outfit in the murder of journalist Imtiaz Mir, who was shot in Karachi in September 2025.
October 26, 2025: Riffat Ara Alvi, the mother of slain Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, has died, ending her relentless fight for justice following his killing in Kenya in 2022.
November 01, 2025 Belarus court jails journalist Siarhei Chabotska for extremism and defaming the president, highlighting Minsk’s ongoing crackdown on press freedom.
November 01, 2025 Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran was found murdered in Durango. CPJ urges authorities to ensure justice amid rising violence against journalists in Mexico.
November 01, 2025 UNESCO survey finds one-third of media lawyers cannot effectively defend journalists due to threats, limited resources, and lack of specialization.
October 31, 2025 Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded broadcaster covering tightly controlled Asian media environments, has suspended all news operations after federal funding dried up.
October 30, 2025 PSL franchise fees lag far behind IPL's USD 18.5B valuation as Pakistan Cricket Board's bureaucratic grip stifles growth. Hard numbers expose a stark reality.