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Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and UNESCO Goodwill ambassador, famous journalist Christiane Amanpour, reiterate their callon the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release journalist Khadija Ismayilova, UN News Center reports.

“When the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize has previously been given to a journalist in prison, the high visibility and support provided by UNESCO have always brought about their release,” Irina Bokova and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and Journalist Safety, Christiane Amanpour, said in a statement.

“This was the case for the previous winner MrMazenDarwish, President of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, 2015 Prize Laureate, now released and who was able to attend the conference in Helsinki,” they reminded in the statement.

The UN News Center also writes that the independent journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was a host at the Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL, was awardedthe 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
The UN believes that her trial was politically motivated and was carried out with violations.

The United Nations Radio's News and Media centerreports that Ismayilovawas presented by her mother during the awards ceremony in Helsinki. 

On 1 September 2015, Baku Court of Grave Crimes handed down a 7.6 years prison sentence to the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova. The court found her guilty of the Articles 179 (embezzlement and misappropriation), 192 (illegal business), 213 (tax evasion) and 308 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Ismayilova was cleared from the article 125 (incitement to commit suicide) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

Earlier, the public prosecutor, RamazanHadiyev, had claimed 9 years of imprisonment for Khadija Ismayilova. The journalist was detained on 5 December 2014, which was followed by a wave of condemning statements by a number of international organisations and influential representatives from various states, who claimed her arrest was politically motivated.