Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova claims authorities obstruct her participation in US events

Khadija Ismayilova, an employee of the Azerbaijani service of Radio Liberty, could not leave the country for taking part in the hearing of the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress, as she received no answer to her request addressed to the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO). The journalist stated that the Azeri authorities have impeded her participation in the event and intends to challenge it in court.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the GPO of Azerbaijan imposed a ban on Ismayilova's tours abroad on October 12; and then she was not able to go from Baku to Prague for the International Conference "Forum 2000". The GPO motivated the ban by the journalist's participation in some criminal case as a witness.

According to Khadija, on October 13 she appealed to the GPO asking to explain the reasons for the above ban.

She reminded that she figured as a witness in only one criminal case – on the file she had posted on the Facebook in relation to her possible disclosure of state secrets. She was repeatedly interrogated on the case at the GPO in February-March, but she did not sign the recognizance not to leave the country.

She believes that the ban on her tours abroad is illegal. "I've missed a number of international events. This is a punishment for my stating and writing the truth; however, such measures will not stop me from continuing my work. Now I have even more time to fight against suppression of democratic freedoms by the regime," said Ismayilova.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.