Journalist offers inspiring example

Seven and a half years in prison.
That’s the sentence handed down this week to Khadija Ismayilova.
Her crime? Reporting the news.
In Azerbaijan, that’s enough to get you into serious trouble with the authorities, especially the circle of corrupt officials in and around the family of the president.
Ismayilova is an investigative journalist who works for RFE/RL. That’s shorthand for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. taxpayer supported effort to establish credible, independent journalism in the post-Soviet world. RFE/RL’s roots go back to the beginning of the Cold War, but with the Soviet collapse its mission continued.
The need was still evident.
Ismayilova was arrested late last year on a series of fabricated charges patched together by the government after those in power grew weary of having her report on their misdeeds, the culture of bribery and the off-shore accounts of those on the take.
Her trial dragged on, but on Tuesday she was found guilty of tax evasion, illegal business activity and abuse of power. The irony drew ridicule from Ismayilova in her closing statement to the court; the charges against her are exactly those that Azerbaijan’s ruling clique commits routinely.
Sadly, within the limits of the world of diplomacy, there’s little that can be done in the wake of Ismayilova’s sentencing. Western officials immediately condemned it, saying they were “deeply troubled.”
A better response came from Ismayilova’s mother.
“Khadija won’t stop,” she told RFE/RL after the court ruled. “Her mouth won’t close. Her pen won’t dry up. She will continue to talk and continue to write. She is a fighter. And she is very strong. And she is telling everyone to stay strong and continue the fight.”
If you don’t find that humbling enough, consider Ismayilova’s own words in her final statement to the court before heading off to prison.
“I am one of those people who knows how to turn a problem into an opportunity,” she said. “It has always been this way. I will build homes from the stones thrown at me.”
That’s an example that should inspire us all. — J.R.