U.S. National Press Club honored Khadija Ismayilova with press freedom award

Jailed Azerbaijani instigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, and American journalists Jason Rezaian, Austin Tice who have been detained in Syria and Iran, were honored with press freedom awards at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., on Wednesday, July 29th, TURAN’s U.S. correspondent reports.

 “We will not stop fighting for these journalists until they are free and able to do their jobs,” said John Hughes, president National Press Club.

Journalists and media leaders were present at the annual event to celebrate the highest press freedom prize honoring their jailed colleagues.

Ismayilova, who has been held in pretrial detention in a Baku prison since last December on charges many observers link to her investigations of high-level corruption involving President Ilham Aliyev, according to RFE/RL Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic, who accepted the award on Ismayilova’s behalf.

“This award is an acknowledgement of [Khadija’s] courage and her convictions, but it is also a call to all of us here tonight to condemn her imprisonment and demand her freedom," he said.

Alakbar Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.