RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic had nominated the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova for the US National Press Club’s Press Freedom Award, and she won it, Azerbaijani information agency Turan reports.
According to the report, the award ceremony was held in Washington on July 29. Journalists and editors in chief attended the annual ceremony to celebrate one of the most prestigious press freedom awards, and support their colleagues in jail. “We will not stop fighting for these journalists until they are free and able to do their jobs,” John Hughes, the president of the US National Press Club, said
Ismayilova has been held in pretrial detention in a Baku prison for 234 days on charges many observers link to her investigations of high-level corruption involving Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, RFE/RL writes.
During the first trial on Ismayilova’s case on July 24, the judge rejected motions to dismiss the criminal case on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, and to grant Ismayilova house arrest as a substitute for pretrial detention. In case Ismayilova is found guilty, she may face up to 19 years in prison, according to RFE/RL.
“Khadija is in prison because of her journalism…This award is an acknowledgement of her courage and her convictions, but it is also a call to all of us here tonight to condemn her imprisonment and demand her freedom,” Nenaj Pejic, RFE/RL editor in chief, said.
On 5 December 2014, the well-known Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova was detained after being questioned at the prosecutor’s office. Baku Sabail District Court made a decision to detain her on charges of incitement to suicide. The arrest of Ismayilova has been followed by a wave of condemning statements by a number of international organizations and influential representatives from various states. Protests have been organized in her support in various countries; and prominent international outlets released articles covering the topic. However, on 13 February 2015, the Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijan Prosecutor General’s Office charged the journalist under articles 179.3.2 (large-scale appropriation), 192.2.2 (illegal entrepreneurship with large income) and 308.2 (abuse of power with grave consequences) of Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The journalist was fined while in jail. She faces up to 12 years in prison. In early April, Azerbaijani journalist Tural Mustafayev – under whose complaint Khadija Ismayilova had been arrested last December – wrote a letter to Zakir Garalov, the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, saying that he wanted to withdraw his appeal. When asked why he had lodged an accusation, Mustafa told the journalist that he was under emotional stress in that period.
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