Amal Clooney confirmed as jailed Azeri reporter’s defense counsel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova has confirmed that prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will represent her at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), RFE/RL reports.

Ismayilova lawyer Fariz Namazli said in an exclusive statement on Thursday, January 21 that the reporter, who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison last year on dubious economic-crimes charges, had agreed to Clooney's offer because of the courage she had demonstrated while defending Al-Jazeera journalistMohamed Fahmy in 2014 when he was imprisoned in Egypt.

Clooney, who has represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in recent years, will serve as co-counsel for Ismayilova.

The case seeks to challenge Azerbaijan's detention of Ismayilova -- who was in pretrial detention for nine months after her arrest in December 2014 -- as a violation of the European convention.

The initial charge, that she had prompted a former colleague to attempt to commit suicide, was dropped, but she remained jailed and was later charged with embezzlement, tax evasion, and abuse of power. In September, the 39-year-old Ismayilova was sentenced by an Azerbaijani court to 7 1/2 years in prison.

The legal actions against Ismayilova are widely considered to be retribution for her reporting that linked the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to extensive business and real-estate holdings, and have come under intense criticism from international rights groups and Western states, including members of the European Union.