Khadija Ismayilova detained
Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist working with RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, was sent to pre-trial detention in Azerbaijan, unjustly punished for her hard-hitting reporting on government corruption and human rights abuses in the country. The arrest came one day after the Azeri president’s chief of staff issued a blistering 60-page statement containing false allegations against Ismayilova and RFE/RL’s Baku bureau staff and labeling them “foreign agents.” Her arrest is part of a broader, government-led campaign to silence independent civil society in Azerbaijan, including RFE/RL.