Congratulations for Khadija Ismailova on the Eve of March 8

The organization Reporters without Borders on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8 recalls the names of 10 women journalists under arrest in various locations around the world.

The article "Women journalists, commitments and challenges" shows the names and photos of these journalists from Azerbaijan, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Serbia, Burma, Congo, Liberia, Morocco and Mexico.

The organization also recalled the investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, who has specialized in covering Azerbaijan’s most taboo subject – corruption and conflicts of interest at the highest government level. To shut her up, a sex-tape was used in a blackmail attempt in March 2012 but, far from putting a stop to her reporting, she re-issued her most important articles.

According to the statement, Ismayilova gives as good as she gets in her relations with a regime bent on silencing all critics. And she has paid the price – smeared in the government media, prosecuted on spying and defamation charges and often picked up for questioning. She was finally arrested on absurd charges last December after spending several months following the cases of detained human rights defenders – organizing legal support and assistance for their families, helping to daw up a list of political prisoners and providing the international community with constant alerts.

The organization also said the authorities have imprisoned Ismayilova but they have not managed to silence her. In letters smuggled out of prison, she has continued to criticize the government and call for resistance. As a result she has been placed in solitary confinement. –0--