Khadija Ismayilova Three Months in Jail
Today marks third month since Ismayilova arrest on December 5, 2014.
None of the chargse were dropped. In contrast additional charges were brought against Khadija on February 13 making it clear the journalist was arrested for her work.
She was intially charged with "incitement to suicide" however on February 13, she was also charged with embezzlement, tax evasion, illegal business and abuse of power. If found guilty she is facing 8 to 12 years in jail.
Her lawyers call these charges bogus.
2days before international women's day President #Aliyev couldn't have come up with a better present - #KhadijaIsmayil detention extended
— Arzu Geybulla (@arzugeybulla) 6.3.2015
there are two prominent women who are in jail today in Azerbaijan. #KhadijaIsmayil and #LeylaYunus #InternationalWomensDay
— Arzu Geybulla (@arzugeybulla) 8.3.2015
Khadija's letters from prison
Khadija Ismayilova, continues to write from Kurdakhani detention facility on Azerbaijan's authoritarian regime, the European Games and the International Women's Day.
Here are some excerpts from her recent letters.
"I didn't become a journalist because of America, but U.S.-funded projects helped me to learn how to become a good journalist, to uncover corruption, and to tell the truth. Organizations funded by the EU and U.S. organizations organized trainings and I do have expectations from democratic institutions and countries.
I still do. Their inaction hurts, but I made it clear before I got arrested that I don't want any bargaining for me. Speak up publicly and loudly. No private diplomacy for me, please.
I don't believe in human rights advocacy behind closed doors. "Thanks" to the "privacy" of their efforts, the Council of Europe and OSCE helped the Azerbaijani government to silence all critics and create a false show of human rights.
I remember all of the investigations that I did, and I have no intention to demand support just because I was encouraged to become a skilled investigative reporter, which in fact is the main reason for my arrest [...]
I have spent three and a half months in detention waiting for one prosecution, which didn't work out. Now another one starts. Let us see if prosecutors will produce something smarter than they did so far [...]
Prison is not the end of life [...] It is in fact an unparalleled opportunity. I take it as a challenge to use the time for translating a book and writing."
In this letter Khadija paints the picture of female convicts. She writes of the most common criminal charges femal convicts face.
"In Azerbaijan, the two most common reasons which result in a prison sentence are the illegal circulation of narcotics in the south of Azerbaijan (article 234, also known as the "national article"); the victims of early marriages; and those who serve for crimes often occuring as a result of the lack of education.
About 20 years ago, we, journalists, covering these issues of the Southern Azerbaijan as well as early marraiges, should have been ready for these kind of consequences".
Khadija says today, the same problems exist not only in the South of the country but slowly are spreading across the whole country.
The law on Gender Equality was adopted in 2006 in Azerbaijan. The law on Domestic Violence was adopted in 2010. There are no official statistics on early marriages in Azerbaijan. A number of non-governmental organizations working on women's rights in Azerbaijan condemned the growing number of earliy marriages over the years as the government is yet to tackle this issue with more aggressive measures.