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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova jailed in Baku | Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova jailed in Baku |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Leading Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for embezzlement and tax evasion. | Leading Azerbaijan journalist Khadija Ismayilova has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for embezzlement and tax evasion. |
| A renowned investigative reporter, she had focused on businesses and offshore bank accounts allegedly linked to the family of President Ilham Aliyev. | A renowned investigative reporter, she had focused on businesses and offshore bank accounts allegedly linked to the family of President Ilham Aliyev. |
| Human rights organisations have complained that the trial was politically motivated. | Human rights organisations have complained that the trial was politically motivated. |
| Two prominent activists were jailed last month on similar charges. | Two prominent activists were jailed last month on similar charges. |
| Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif were given jail terms of eight and a half years and seven years, respectively. | Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif were given jail terms of eight and a half years and seven years, respectively. |
| Ismayilova: Giving Azerbaijan's government a headache | Ismayilova: Giving Azerbaijan's government a headache |
| The Azerbaijan government said at the time the couple's court process had been open and free and that judicial independence and the rule of law were "fully guaranteed". | The Azerbaijan government said at the time the couple's court process had been open and free and that judicial independence and the rule of law were "fully guaranteed". |
| Responding to the latest verdict, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland linked the cases and spoke of a worrying trend against human rights activists and journalists. | |
| He said the developments had a "chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country". | |
| Human Rights Watch condemned the sentence as "outrageous". | |
| Amnesty International accused the government of stepping up "its brutal crackdown" on journalists, political and human rights activists - "indeed anyone who dares to publicly raise a critical voice". | |
| Although President Aliyev is accused of jailing opponents and clamping down on dissent, Azerbaijan has been openly courted by the West thanks to substantial gas reserves seen as a possible alternative to Russian supplies. | |
| 'Blackmail' | |
| Addressing the court on Monday, Ismayilova, 39, said it was not a coincidence that she had been charged with embezzlement and tax evasion as these were the crimes she had written and spoken about as a journalist. | |
| She was cleared of a separate charge of inciting a former colleague to suicide because, she said, she had refused to bow to government blackmail and had come out stronger. | |
| Arrested in December last year, Ismayilova had become a recognised daily talk show presenter at Radio Azadliq, RFE/RL's Azeri service. | |
| In 2011, intimate pictures and a video emerged of her with her boyfriend which had been captured by a hidden camera. A letter with the pictures warned her to stop investigating alleged government corruption. | |
| Government officials and pro-government media outlets have accused her of being "pro-Armenian" or an "international agent". |