Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years

Published 2026-09-23. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 3 sources.

Status: historical, as of 2026-09-22.

What we don't know: The sources reviewed do not include the court's own written reasoning for the conviction.

A Baku court convicted investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova on business and tax charges and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison, in a case CPJ said was payback for her reporting on official corruption.¹²³

Country: Azerbaijan
Where: AZ
Level of government: National
Tactic: Detention and violence
Stage: Eliminate (see the ladder)
Ladder note: Azerbaijan imprisoned an investigative reporter for over a year on charges connected to her reporting on the president's family's business holdings; no United States case in the record has produced a multi-year sentence.
Head of government at the time: Ilham Aliyev
Issue of the day: Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Outcome: Reversed, May 25, 2016. Azerbaijan's Supreme Court converted her sentence to a suspended term and ordered her released after about 538 days in custody.
Era: The 2010s

What happened

Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist known for reporting on corruption involving the family of Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, was arrested in Baku on December 5, 2014, after prosecutors brought a series of charges against her covering embezzlement, an unlicensed business, tax evasion and abuse of power. On September 1, 2015, a Baku court convicted her on those charges and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison. CPJ said it had determined the charges to be payback for her reporting and called the trial a farce, though it warned the consequences were serious for her and for Azerbaijani journalists generally. Ismayilova denied all the charges throughout the proceedings. In May 2016, Azerbaijan's Supreme Court converted her prison term to a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence and ordered her released, after she had spent about 538 days in custody.¹²³

Closed; Ismayilova was released in May 2016 with a suspended sentence.³

What reason was given

Not stated in the sources reviewed.²

What changed for reporting

Ismayilova's imprisonment removed one of Azerbaijan's most prominent investigative reporters from active work for a year and a half and signaled to other journalists the risk of reporting on the president's family.¹²³

Timeline

2015

September 1, 2015

Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years

Who acted

Name	Role in this incident	Office at the time
Ilham Aliyev	other	President of Azerbaijan

Outlets and journalists

Name	Kind	Relation
Khadija Ismayilova	journalist	affected

Sources

CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija IsmayilovaCommittee to Protect Journalists, 2015-09-01, reporting. Source record
Azerbaijani reporter Khadija Ismayilova ordered releasedCommittee to Protect Journalists, 2016-05-25, reporting. Source record
Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova jailed in BakuBBC, 2015-09-01, reporting. Source record

Claims cited

The court's verdict and sentence. convicted Khadija Ismayilova...of illegal business, tax evasion, abuse of power, and embezzlement, and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija Ismayilova, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2015-09-01. Claim 665, checked 2026-09-22.
CPJ's assessment of the motive behind the prosecution. CPJ has determined the charges to be retaliation for Ismayilova's reporting on corruption in the Azerbaijani government. CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija Ismayilova, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2015-09-01. Claim 666, checked 2026-09-22.
Description of the May 2016 Supreme Court decision. The court converted Ismayilova's jail term into a three-and-a half-year suspended term Azerbaijani reporter Khadija Ismayilova ordered released, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016-05-25. Claim 667, checked 2026-09-22.