Azerbaijani journalists and NGOs are outraged of blackmail against Khadidja Ismailova

Representatives of mass media, NGOs and professional associations of Azerbaijan have made statements condemning the threats and blackmail, to which the journalist Khadidja Ismailova was exposed.

The Azerbaijani Institute of Media Rights (IMR) has treated the threats against Ismailova as "obstruction to a journalist's professional activities" and urged the authorities to immediately investigate the facts of blackmail, and to identify and punish those responsible.

"Under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, actions aimed to prevent a journalist's professional activities are a crime," said Rashid Gadjily, Director of the IMR.

Ismailova is the author of resonant investigations on involvement of senior officials and members of their families in corruption. The pro-government media have repeatedly published slanderous articles against her, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) said in its statement.

The IRFS has also called on the UN, the Council of Europe and the OSCE to demand from the authorities of Azerbaijan to honour their international commitments on the freedom of expression.

More than 20 eminent jurists and lawyers of Azerbaijan have issued a joint statement, which notes that Khadidja Ismailova is "not only a bright person in Azerbaijani journalism, but also a public figure, standing at the forefront of the fight against the country's growing reactive regime."

The authors of the statement believe that the Ismailova's investigatory journalism in the sphere of corruption in higher echelons of power has caused a very serious concern among those in power.