Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has ordered that RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova be released from custody after reducing her prison term from 7 1/2 years in custody to a suspended term of 3 1/2 years.

The court made the decision on May 25 after hearing an appeal by the journalist.

WATCH: Live From Outside Supreme Court

Ismayilova was detained in December 2014 and sentenced in September 2015 on tax-evasion and embezzlement charges. Western governments and international press-freedom groups had called for her release.

ALSO READ: The Reporting That Jailed Khadija

The charges have widely been seen as retaliation for her award-winning investigative reporting linking the family of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to corruption.

On May 27, a group of nongovernmental organizations plans to hold support rallies in 40 different cities to mark Ismayilova’s 40th birthday.
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