On Wednesday afternoon, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan ruled to replace the jail sentence of investigative journalist Khadija Ismailova with a probationary term of 3 1/2 years. Ismailova, an award-winning investigative reporter whose work has exposed corruption among the family of President Ilham Aliyev, was challenging her 7 1/2-year sentence on charges widely viewed as politically motivated.
Meydan TV spoke with Khadija’s mother, Elmira Ismayilova, in Baku, who said, “I am very happy about her release. I want her to get home as soon as she can so we can hug and kiss. I want to thank all of her friends from all over the world for putting so much effort in getting her released from jail. And I want to thank all you investigative journalists for continuing her work so there was no hiatus. The Panama Papers has been a great investigation, very successful. I want to kiss you all.”
