[JURIST] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [official website] contributor Khadija Ismayilova [official profile] on Friday went on trial in Baku, Azerbaijan eight months after her arrest. The investigative journalist faces charges [RFE/RL report] of tax evasion, abuse of power and embezzlement, which she claims are the politically motivated punishment [statement] for her work exposing government corruption. Ismayilova has pleaded not guilty. A defense motion to drop the tax evasion charge was rejected by the judge despite a tax inspection being frozen in May, according to defense lawyer Fariz Namazli. The judge also rejected a request to let her out of the glass cage she must sit in during trial, citing safety concerns for her, and journalists and relatives have been barred from being in the courtroom. Activists have spoken out against her imprisonment, with Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] calling Ismayilova a “prisoner of conscience.”

The human rights situation in Azerbaijan has drawn heavy criticism from the UN and various rights groups. In March, with the European Games approaching in Baku, Azerbaijan, human rights groups urged the host nation to release political prisoners [JURIST report] held on “trumped up” charges. In February the detention [JURIST report] of Azeri human rights activist Leyla Yunus, held without trial since July, was extended an additional five months. In October the Council of Europe [official website] called on [JURIST report] Azerbaijan to halt the arrest and detention of human rights activists in the country. In September the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] suspended [JURIST report] its visit to Azerbaijan citing the government’s prevention of access to a number of locations where individuals are being detained. In August a court in Azerbaijan upheld [JURIST report] the conviction and detention of top human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. Aliyev was arrested in 2011 on charges including illegal commercial activity, tax evasion and abuse of power. A report [World Report 2015: Azerbaijan] published by HRW reported escalating repression of political critics in 2014 by the Azerbaijani government.