Azerbaijan jails govt critic Ismayilova to gag the truth: Amal Clooney

PanARMENIAN.Net - Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney, is representing award-winning Azerbaijan reporter Khadija Ismayilova at the European Court of Human Rights, BBC News reports.

Ismayilova, an outspoken critic of the government, was jailed 18 months ago.

“This case really moved me because on the one hand I found her to be this really courageous, inspirational woman, a young woman – 39 years old – working in a country where she knew very well the consequences of being a reporter, one of her colleagues being gunned down,” Clooney told BBC.

“Besides, the idea that the government, Azerbaijan as a member of the Council of Europe, could actually put a reporter behind bars because they didn’t want her to be able to tell the truth made me really angry and I thought perhaps I could help her.”