Europe’s top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that Azerbaijan’s prosecution of Khadija Ismayilova, one of the country’s best-known investigative journalists, was intended “to silence and punish her for her journalistic activities.”
Ismayilova has spent years exposing high-level corruption in Azerbaijan, including business dealings involving the family and close associates of President Ilham Aliyev. She has worked with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Ismayilova was convicted of tax evasion and “illegal entrepreneurship” for carrying out her journalism activities without media accreditation. She was arrested in December 2014 and released in May 2016.
In its judgment, the European Court of Human Rights said Azerbaijani authorities were “driven by improper reasons” when they launched a series of criminal proceedings against the veteran reporter between 2014 and 2015.
The Strasbourg court found the judicial decisions against her were “flawed with arbitrariness” and deprived Ismayilova of a fair trial. Judges noted that at least one charge—related to her lack of accreditation—was “directly connected to her practice of journalism,” and concluded that Baku had failed to show the prosecution was unrelated to her status as a reporter.
Under the ruling, Azerbaijan must pay Ismayilova 12,000 euro (over $14,000) in moral damages and an additional 4,000 euro (over $4,700) in legal costs.
The European Court of Human Rights has previously ruled in Ismayilova’s favor against Baku in other cases, including judgments on her initial arrest, pre-trial detention, and an “unjustified and flagrant invasion of her private life” during a public smear campaign.
Ismayilova has again faced restrictions, including a travel ban in 2024, as part of an ongoing crackdown on independent media. Since November 2023, Azerbaijani authorities have arrested at least 28 journalists, including her colleagues at Toplum TV.
