An appeals court in the Azerbaijani capital has rejected an appeal by investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova against a court order barring her from leaving the country.
The court rejected the appeal on August 15 and left the travel ban in place.
Ismayilova, who is a contributor to RFE/RL’s Azerbaijan Service and laureate of numerous international awards for her journalism, was arrested in December 2014.
She was later convicted of tax evasion, misappropriation of property, and other charges. She was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
In May, Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court reduced her sentence to a suspended prison term of 3 1/2 years and ordered her released. That sentence was reduced earlier this month to 2 years and 3 months.
Ismayilova and her supporters maintain that the charges against her were politically motivated in retaliation for her extensive reporting linking Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs and his family to corruption.
