Khadija Ismayilova had been aware of the risks faced by journalists in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan since the 2005 assassination of magazine editor Elmar Huseynov, a dogged government critic. But rather than retreat, she felt obliged to honour his memory by exposing the business interests of President Ilham Aliyev, his family, and other high-ranking officials.
Her arrest on charges of ‘incitement to suicide’ on 4 December 2014 came a day after the head of the presidential administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev, accused her of treason. When the alleged victim, who had attempted suicide two months earlier, withdrew his accusation, she was charged with embezzlement, tax evasion and abuse of power. On 1 September 2015, after nine months in pre-trial detention, Ismayilova was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
