CPJ joins calls for Azerbaijan to release Khadija Ismayilova

In a statement to mark the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova, Sport for Rights –a coalition of international press freedom groups that includes the Committee to Protect Journalists–called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ismayilova and all other journalists and rights activists jailed in Azerbaijan for their work. The statement also called on Azerbaijani authorities to end their crackdown on the press.

Ismayilova, an award-winning journalist known for her work with the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and her investigative work with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, was arrested in Baku on December 5, 2014. On September 1, a court sentenced her to seven-and-a-half years in jail for embezzlement, illegal business, tax evasion, and abuse of power, according to reports.

A copy of the Sport for Rights statement is available here.