Prison term for Khadija Ismaylova extended

Today, the Nasimi District Court extended the prison term of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova until March 24, - APA reports.

The Prosecutor General’s Office issued a statement regarding Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest, claiming that she was charged with driving a person to suicide.

Apparently, Tural Mustafayev, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Meydan TV Television and Radio Company, attempted to commit suicide by swallowing zinc oxide at a Seaside Park on October 20, and Ismayilova was somehow complicit.

Tural himself appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office to ask that legal action be used against Khadija Ismayilova, (with whom he had a close relationship for a long time), for driving him to suicide by insulting and exerting pressure on him throughout the entire period of his employment at the abovementioned organizations.

The investigation also revealed that Mustafayev made another suicide attempt on the 1st of May of 2014 by trying to hang himself with a noose fashioned out of a bed sheet in the apartment he rented – presumably, due to Khadija threatening him. However, the attempt proved unsuccessful.

On December 5, the Sabail District Court sentenced Khadija Ismayilova to two months of pre-trial detention. On January 27, Ismayilova’s prison term was extended by two more months.