Europe’s highest human rights tribunal has ruled that Azerbaijan deliberately misused its criminal justice system to silence one of the country’s most prominent investigative journalists, delivering a stinging rebuke to authorities in Baku and renewing international concern over the state of press freedom in the oil-rich South Caucasus nation.

In a judgment issued on January 27, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded that the prosecution of Khadija Ismayilova was not driven by legitimate law enforcement objectives but was instead aimed at “silencing and punishing her for her journalistic activities.” The court ordered Azerbaijan to pay Ismayilova a total of 16,000 euros (about $18,700) in damages and legal costs.

Ismayilova, internationally renowned for her investigations into alleged high-level corruption, has for years been a central target of government pressure in Azerbaijan. Working with outlets such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), she published detailed reports on business interests linked to President Ilham Aliyev’s family and close associates-coverage that brought her global acclaim and repeated run-ins with the authorities at home.

The Strasbourg-based court examined a series of criminal cases brought against Ismayilova between 2014 and 2015, when Azerbaijani prosecutors accused her of tax evasion and “illegal entrepreneurship.” Authorities argued that she had violated domestic law by conducting journalistic activities without official media accreditation, a requirement critics say is routinely used to control independent reporting.

Ismayilova was arrested in December 2014 and remained in custody for more than a year before being released in May 2016. Although she was eventually freed, the convictions carried........

© Blitz