Khadija Ismayililova wins ’Alternative Nobel Prize’
By Jane Whyatt
From a prison cell in Azerbaijan to a multi-award-winning journalist, Ms Ismayilova has come a long way. The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter was jailed for seven and a half years after using the Panama Papers leaks to identify corrupt practices in her country’s government. The investigation became known as the 'Azerbijani Laundromat' since it details a complicated money laundering scheme.
Khadija Ismayililova (picture: Aziz Karimov, Khadija Ismayilova, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Ismayilova was accused in unrelated cases of inciting a suicide attempt, of various tax and fraud offences and of criminal libel. During their efforts to create a case against her, the secret…
