23:36, 11 August 2017

Court refuses to let Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova leave the country

Khadija Ismayilova. Photo from her account on Facebook

Journalist Khadija Ismayilova could not get permission to attend the ceremony of awarding the Allard International Prize. Khadija Ismayilova treats the decision pronounced by the court on August 10 as violation of her right to freedom of movement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 8, 2016, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan upheld the ban on going abroad for Khadija Ismayilova, serving her conditional sentence.

Khadija Ismayilova is well-known for her investigations of corruption in Azerbaijan. In September 2015, the court sentenced the journalist to 7.5 years of imprisonment. In May 2016, the Supreme Court replaced the imprisonment by 3.5 years of conditional sentence with a probationary period of five years.

Khadija Ismayilova has explained that she was invited to Canada for the ceremony of the Allard International Prize at the University of British Columbia on September 28. Khadija Ismayilova became one of three finalists.

"The court has motivated its decision by the fact that I often ask to leave the country. This was interpreted as a search for opportunities to evade the execution of punishment. The court has also pointed out to the fact that I do not have a husband and property in Azerbaijan and therefore I do not have anything to force me to return to the country," said Khadija Ismayilova.

The journalist has called the court's arguments groundless.

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

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent