VIENNA / WARSAW, 25 May 2016 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Michael Georg Link, today welcomed the release of the Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender Khadija Ismayilova.
“Her release is a very positive step, as was the recent Presidential pardon of a number of imprisoned journalists and freedom of expression advocates, including Rasul Jafarov,” Mijatović said. “Unfortunately, Ismayilova’s sentence has only been suspended, and I call on the authorities to drop all charges against her and release the remaining imprisoned journalists.”
The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan today decided to commute Ismayilova’s imprisonment sentence to a 3.5-year suspended sentence. Ismayilova, an investigative reporter with Radio Azadliq (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on 1 September 2015 on charges of misappropriation and embezzlement, illegal business dealings, tax evasion and abuse of power.
“Already in 1994, all OSCE participating States have emphasized the need for the protection of human rights defenders, and in Astana in 2010 they stressed that they value the important role played by civil society and free media to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Director Link said. “I thus welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to commute Ismayilova’s sentence, as she has consistently worked to raise awareness of the authorities’ responsibility to meet the country’s commitments in the area of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
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The Representative encouraged the authorities to release all remaining members of the media and bloggers still in prison today in Azerbaijan, including Seymur Hazi, Nijat Aliyev, Abdul Abilov, Rashad Ramazanov and Araz Guliyev.
Both the Representative and the ODIHR Director stressed that their Offices remain ready to assist Azerbaijan, in improving media freedom and journalists’ safety, and in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, respectively, and that they will continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with the authorities. They also said that they look forward to visiting Baku in the future.