U.S. Helsinki Commission to hold hearing on Khadija Ismayil case
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, will hold a hearing on “Azerbaijan’s Persecution of RFE/RL Reporter Khadija Ismayilova” on Wednesday, December 16.
In its statement the Commission noted:
In December 2014 the government of Azerbaijan arrested investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova on spurious charges and subsequently raided the offices of her employer, U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). After a lengthy trial that was widely condemned by the international community for numerous irregularities, in September Ms. Ismayilova was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. Her appeal was denied on November 25 and the RFE/RL Baku Bureau has remained shuttered by the Government of Azerbaijan.
As Helsinki Commission Chair Rep. Chris Smith noted at the time of her sentencing, “[Ms. Ismayilova] is being robbed of her freedom for exposing corruption within the Azerbaijani government. Her arrest last December and the subsequent shutdown of the RFE/RL bureau in Baku were direct attacks on media freedom.”
Ms. Ismayilova is known for her well-documented investigative reports into the wealth of the senior leadership of the Government of Azerbaijan and had suffered harassment from the security services for some time before her arrest.
This hearing will examine the conduct of the trial against Ms. Ismayilova and whether or not the U.S. Government has done all it can to secure her release and to address the closing of the Baku bureau of RFE/RL.
The following witnesses are scheduled to testify:
- Nenad Pejic, Vice President / Editor-in-Chief of Programming, RFE/RL
- Delphine Halgand, U.S. Director, Reporters Without Borders
- T. Kumar, International Advocacy Director, Amnesty International USA
- Shelly Han, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe -25D-
-
- Politics
- 14 December 2015 19:13
-
- Question-answer
- 15 December 2015 10:36
Politics
-
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova has decided to unilaterally terminate the Moldovan-Russian agreement from 1998 on the creation and operation of cultural centers.
-
By the order of the head of state, Rufat Mahmud has been appointed the new head of the historical and architectural reserve "Icheri Sheher" – the historic center of Baku.
-
On February 13, the Appeal Court did not satisfy the defense's appeal against the decision of the Khatai Court regarding the arrest of journalist Shahnaz Beylargizi. According to the lawyer, the journalist herself did not participate in the trial due to poor health. The defense intends to submit a petition to replace the arrest with house arrest.
-
Azerbaijan will limit 'Sputnik Azerbaijan' and 'BBC News Azərbaycanca' editorial offices. This was reported by the country's pro-government media on 13 February, citing an informed source.
Leave a review