Azerbaijan: Sport for Rights coalition condemns sentencing of journalist Khadija Ismayilova

01 Sep 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Statements, Campaigns, mobile, Statements

The Sport for Rights coalition strongly condemns the sentencing of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova to a staggering 7.5 years in jail. On 1 September, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes convicted Ismayilova on charges of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and abuse of office. Ismayilova was acquitted of the charge of inciting someone to attempt suicide. Sport for Rights considers the charges against Ismayilova to be politically motivated and connected to her work as an investigative journalist, particularly her exposure of corruption among the ruling Azerbaijani elite.

“We condemn today’s verdict in the case of Khadija Ismayilova, which puts an outrageous yet expected ending to the grotesque proceedings against her”, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “The time for business as usual with Azerbaijan is over. We call on Baku’s counterparts in the international community to make no further dealings with this highly repressive state until Ismayilova is unconditionally released and fully acquitted of all fabricated accusations”.

“Khadija Ismayilova’s trial failed to meet minimum fair trial guarantees, a pattern that has been regularly observed by IPHR’s monitors in similar cases in Azerbaijan”, said Brigitte Dufour, IPHR Director. “The defence’s motions are routinely rejected, which runs contrary to the principle of equality of arms – a cornerstone of the right to a fair trial – and indicates that the judges in these trials are openly siding with the prosecution”.

One of Azerbaijan’s most prominent investigative journalists, Ismayilova is also among the most courageous, one of very few willing to report on risky topics such as human rights violations and corruption. In the months leading to her arrest in December 2014, Ismayilova was aware she could be targeted, which she linked to her investigations into the business interests of President Ilham Aliyev’s family. Despite being warned not to return to the country from trips abroad – during which she spoke at international organisations on abuses taking place in Azerbaijan – Ismayilova persisted, speaking out critically until her arrest, and even afterwards, in letters smuggled out from jail.

Sport for Rights believes that in jailing Ismayilova, the Azerbaijani authorities sought to silence her critical voice before the country faced increased international media attention during the inaugural European Games, which took place in Baku in June 2015. Sport for Rights has referred to Ismayilova as a “Prisoner of the European Games” – along with human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, and Intigam Aliyev, who were also arrested in the run-up to the games.

“For her thorough and fearless investigative journalism, which has uncovered corruption at the highest levels of power, Khadija has earned numerous accolades, including PEN American’s 2015 Barbara Goldsmith/Freedom to Write Award”, said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Free Expression programmes at PEN American Center. “However, speaking the truth has grave consequences in Azerbaijan, where independent reporting has been all but extinguished through farcical trials, imprisonment, murder, and other forms of severe harassment. We demand that the government cease this unprecedented witch-hunt against journalists and their family members, and enable Azerbaijani citizens to freely access a range of news and information”.

The harsh sentencing of Ismayilova is the latest incident in an unprecedented crackdown being carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities to silence all forms of criticism and dissent. Less than two weeks before Ismayilova’s verdict, the same court sentenced human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus to 8.5 and seven years in jail, respectively. Authorities have so far disregarded the widespread calls for humanitarian release of the couple, who both suffer serious health problems that continue to worsen in custody. Human rights defenders Intigam Aliyev, Rasul Jafarov, and Anar Mammadli are also serving staggering sentences of 7.5 years, six years and three months (recently reduced from 6.5 years by the appellate court), and 5.5 years, respectively, all on politically motivated charges.

The situation for journalists is also dire. On 9 August, journalist and chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety Rasim Aliyev died in hospital after being severely beaten the previous day. Aliyev had reported receiving threats in the weeks leading to the attack, and the police failed to provide him with protection. This attack followed an earlier high-level threat against an Azerbaijani journalist, Berlin-based Meydan TV Director Emin Milli, in connection with his critical reporting on the European Games. In addition to Ismayilova, journalists Nijat Aliyev, Araz Guliyev, Parviz Hashimli, Seymur Hezi, Hilal Mammadov, Rauf Mirkadirov, and Tofig Yagublu are also behind bars on politically motivated charges.

The Sport for Rights coalition reiterates its call for Ismayilova’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as the release of the other jailed journalists and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. The coalition also calls for the Azerbaijani government to take immediate and concrete steps to improve the broader human rights situation in the country, particularly in the context of the upcoming November parliamentary elections. Without independent media coverage, including critical voices such as Ismayilova’s, the elections cannot be considered free and fair. Finally, Sport for Rights calls for greater vigilance by the international community to developments in the country, and increased efforts to hold the Azerbaijani government accountable to its international human rights obligations.

Supporting organisations:

ARTICLE 19
Civil Rights Defenders
Committee to Protect Journalists
Freedom Now
Front Line Defenders
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Index on Censorship
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
International Media Support (IMS)
International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)
NESEHNUTI
Norwegian Helsinki Committee
PEN American Center
People in Need
Platform
Polish Green Network
Solidarity with Belarus Information Office
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Khadija Ismayilova tells court she is innocent of politically motivated charges

24 Jul 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Campaigns, mobile

Khadija Ismayilova

Khadija Ismayilova

Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova declared her innocence at a pre-trial hearing, calling the charges against her poltically motivated.

Ismayilova, who has reported on corruption allegations involving the family of President Ilham Aliyev, is accused of embezzlement, tax evasion and abuse of power. Detained since December 2014, Ismayilova was originally charged with “incitement to suicide”, though that charge was later dropped.

The court barred members of the public, journalists, political figures and foreign diplomats, who had come to observe the proceedings, from entering the courtroom, Contact.az and Radio Free Europe reported.

Ismayilova’s trial was set to begin on 7 August.

“The decision to bar access to the public on the first day of Khadija’s trial underscores the capricious manner in which the government of President Ilham Aliyev is ruling Azerbaijan. Her’s is not the first spurious case aimed squarely at stifling critical voices in civil society. It’s vital that court officials hold the trial in a transparent manner”, Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship said.

In the past year major figures in Azerbaijan’s civil society have been silenced through pre-trial detentions and multi-year prison sentences.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the pre-trial hearing was part of the trial.

Recent coverage:

• Married political prisoners kept apart for 11 months, reunited in court
• Lawyers call for the release of Intigam Aliyev
• Azerbaijan: Silencing human rights

This article was posted on 24 July 2015 at indexoncensorship.org

Azerbaijan: Appeal from jailed journalist Khadija Ismayilova postponed indefinitely

12 May 15 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan News, Europe and Central Asia, mobile, News and features

KhadijaWEB

UPDATE 14 May 2015

A Baku district court today extended the detention of Khadija Ismayilova by an additional three months, until 24 August. 

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Khadija Ismayilova, one of Azerbaijan’s most celebrated investigative journalists, today had her appeal over a criminal libel conviction postponed indefinitely.

In February Ismayilova was fined 2,500 manat (£1,500) for defamation of former opposition leader Elman Hasanov. The decision to postpone her appeal comes as she enters her six month in pretrial detention over a number of separate charges, dismissed as spurious and trumped up by international human rights organisations.

“The continued judicial harassment of Khadija Ismayilova by Azerbaijani authorities is cruel and unjust,” said Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “As Azerbaijan prepares to host this summer’s inaugural European Games, it is worth remembering that the treatment of Ismayilova flies in the face of the principles of press freedom and human dignity enshrined in the Olympic Charter.”

Ismayilova was arrested on 5 December on charges of inciting suicide and given two months in pretrial detention, which has since been extended twice, last in early March. The initial charge has in recent weeks been further discredited by the backtracking of the accuser, Tural Mustafayev.

In April Mustafayev said in a radio interview that he no longer stands by the letter he wrote in November 2014, accusing Ismayilova of inciting him to suicide, and that he had written to the head public prosecutor to retract his complaint. He says he had first tried in December to withdraw the complaint. Then in May, he accused the city prosecutor’s office in Baku of using his suicide attempt as an opportunity to target Ismayilova.

“I was forced to write the letter. They blackmailed me. They said they will release secret camera recordings of my apartment if I didn’t comply,” he said in a video posted online, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Ismayilova was handed down further charges following her arrest. According to her lawyer, she also stands accused of embezzlement, illegal business, tax evasion and abuse of power. Together, the charges carry a possible sentence of 12 years.

Ismayilova has on a number of occasions taken on President Ilham Aliyev and those close to him through her reporting, and has faced harassment and smear campaigns directly linked to her work. Among other things, ahead of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, she uncovered how the Aliyev family profited from the building of the Baku concert hall where the final was to be hosted.

Ismayilova’s case is part of a an ongoing crackdown against Azerbaijan’s most prominent critical journalists and activists. With just weeks to go until the start of the European Games, hosted in the capital Baku, civil society in Azerbaijan has been almost completely silenced. Human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev and democracy campaigner Rasul Jafarov, also known for their criticism of the Aliyev government, were recently sentenced to seven and a half and six and a half years in prison respectively, on charges similar to those Ismayilova faces.

The latest development in Ismayilova’s case come just days after she was given the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

“Khadija Ismayilova knows no fear. Again and again she has unearthed and exposed stories that have cast a harsh light on widespread corruption and self-dealing at the highest levels of the Azeri government,” said PEN Executive Director Suzanne Nossel.

This article was posted on 12 May 2015 at indexoncensorship.org

Around the Bloc – 16 January (Transitions Online)

16 Jan 20 | Index in the Press

Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders UK, and Transparency International UK are asking Azerbaijani authorities to reconsider a travel ban on prominent journalist Khadija Ismayilova so she can give evidence in the trial of a Romanian journalist, a press release said. Index on Censorship chief executive Jodie Ginsberg said the travel ban on Ismayilova was “a means to punish her and stifle the spread of her reporting.”

Read the full story here.