Investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova worked with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service and with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project covering the corruption of Azerbaijan's ruling family before she was arrested on Dec. 5, 2014 and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on September 2015. She was set free after a successful appeal to Azerbaijan's Supreme Court on May 25, 2016, two days before her 40th birthday.
The Khadija Project was started by colleagues and friends of Khadija Ismayilova to finish the work she began before her imprisonment. Khadija made this request of us and not only did we fulfil it as her friends, we felt a moral obligation to do so as journalists. The Khadija Project will continue on behalf of other journalists behind bars in Azerbaijan.