{
  "id": 187,
  "slug": "2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova",
  "title": "Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years",
  "occurred_on": "2015-09-01",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "AZ",
  "country": "AZ",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
  "leader_slug": "ilham-aliyev",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2016-05-25",
  "outcome_note": "Azerbaijan's Supreme Court converted her sentence to a suspended term and ordered her released after about 538 days in custody.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "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.{c:665}{c:666}{c:667}",
  "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.{c:665}{c:666}{c:667}\n\nClosed; Ismayilova was released in May 2016 with a suspended sentence.{c:667}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:666}",
  "effect_on_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.{c:665}{c:666}{c:667}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not include the court's own written reasoning for the conviction.",
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:18Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 6,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:13Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:22:53Z",
  "stage": "eliminate",
  "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.",
  "country_name": "Azerbaijan",
  "tactics": [
    "detention_and_violence"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "ilham-aliyev",
    "name": "Ilham Aliyev",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/ilham-aliyev"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:35:18Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not include the court's own written reasoning for the conviction."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "ilham-aliyev",
      "name": "Ilham Aliyev",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/ilham-aliyev"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "khadija-ismayilova",
      "name": "Khadija Ismayilova",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/khadija-ismayilova"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 665,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 187,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Convicted and sentenced to seven and a half years",
      "statement": "The court's verdict and sentence.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 389,
      "evidence_quote": "convicted Khadija Ismayilova...of illegal business, tax evasion, abuse of power, and embezzlement, and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison",
      "evidence_date": "2015-09-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:16Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 389,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
        "title": "CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija Ismayilova",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2015-09-01",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/665"
    },
    {
      "id": 666,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 187,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "CPJ determines charges were retaliation for her reporting",
      "statement": "CPJ's assessment of the motive behind the prosecution.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 389,
      "evidence_quote": "CPJ has determined the charges to be retaliation for Ismayilova's reporting on corruption in the Azerbaijani government.",
      "evidence_date": "2015-09-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:16Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 389,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
        "title": "CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija Ismayilova",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2015-09-01",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/666"
    },
    {
      "id": 667,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 187,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Sentence converted and she is ordered released",
      "statement": "Description of the May 2016 Supreme Court decision.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 390,
      "evidence_quote": "The court converted Ismayilova's jail term into a three-and-a half-year suspended term",
      "evidence_date": "2016-05-25",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:35:17Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 390,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2016/05/azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2016/05/azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r/",
        "title": "Azerbaijani reporter Khadija Ismayilova ordered released",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2016-05-25",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/667"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 389,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2015/09/cpj-condemns-75-year-prison-term-for-khadija-ismay/",
      "title": "CPJ condemns 7.5-year prison term for Khadija Ismayilova",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2015-09-01",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 390,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2016/05/azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2016/05/azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r/",
      "title": "Azerbaijani reporter Khadija Ismayilova ordered released",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2016-05-25",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 469,
      "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34116812",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova jailed in Baku",
      "publisher": "BBC",
      "published_on": "2015-09-01",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}