Khadija Ismayilova is an award-winning reporter who received a prestigious press freedom award from the PEN American Center. In her reporting, Khadija uncovered corruption in business dealings by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s family. She has been imprisoned since early December last year on charges of incitement to suicide and criminal libel, widely seen as fabricated by human rights groups. A couple of weeks ago, Khadija celebrated her 39
th
birthday in jail.
Below is a letter from her mother Elmira, who is 71 years old:
My daughter Khadija Ismayilova was arrested on charges of incitement to suicide. She hasn’t complained about prison conditions to me. This month the European Games will be held in Azerbaijan. In my opinion, it is wrong to host these Games in a country with political prisoners. I know one thing: political prisoners must be released. The international community is aware of the events happening in Azerbaijan. The government shouldn’t ridicule itself any further.
The European Games will not cover up for any events happening in Azerbaijan. If I were a young athlete, I would perform duly. Yet as a human being, I would also challenge the violation of human rights. When we are talking about people, human rights and moral values, the international community needs to express their concern with what is happening anywhere. All relationships must be based on these principles.
Our problem is within the country. We might perhaps look good from the outside, but the problem is within us, in the country. Tourists, foreign journalists and athletes attending these games are not able to establish democracy here. No democracy can be achieved until the authorities change their way of thinking and start serving the public.
Personally, I will not watch these games. I am over 70 years old. Instead, I want to see Azerbaijan’s open-minded, free thinking individuals released from the prison.
