Journalist's example gives us hope

Most of us go into the New Year with a mixture of optimism and resolution.
And then there is Khadija Ismayilova. She enters 2015 with indomitable hope.
Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of her.
She’s an award-winning journalist in Azerbaijan who has been held in pre-trial detention since Dec. 5. The charges against her are trumped up nonsense. Her real crime, in the eyes of the regime there, is reporting on corruption.
She has hosted a daily program for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani Service. In other words, she’s working on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan while the people of the United States pay her salary.
This weekend RFE/RL’s website posted a message from Khadija sent from jail.
It’s worth a read if you’re looking for a sense of perspective going into 2015.
Here’s a sample: “I am full of hope on the eve of this New Year that truth and justice will win.
“Arrests and restrictions are part of our mission in telling the truth. My arrest proves one more time that it is important to make change happen: We need to build a new reality where truth will be a norm of life and telling the truth will not require courage.
“You all know why I am here in prison. Uncovering corruption is the real reason. And the only way to prove oppressive regimes wrong is to continue uncovering corruption, to continue defending the rights of oppressed people. Yes, there is a price to pay. But it is worth it!
“As Nazim Hikmet, the Turkish poet, wrote: ‘Those who carry the teardrops of their siblings as a heavy burden upon their neck shouldn’t follow our path.’”
Jailed, facing a prison term, hounded by her government, Khadija Ismayilova has hope for 2015. Thanks to her example, we do as well. —J.R.