Welcome back to the podcast, bribe, swindle, or steel. I'm Alexandra Ragi, and today I'm in Baku,

in Azerbaijan, where I'm speaking with Khadija Ismailova. Kadija is a fearless, or at least

she behaves as if she feels no fear.

Investigative journalists in Baku and a member of the OCCRP, that's the Organized Crime and Corruption Prevention Reporting Project.

She has been bullied and blackmailed and ultimately imprisoned by the government.

Kadeja, thank you for joining me.

Thank you.

Perhaps you could start by telling us a bit about Azerbaijan.

It's tucked between Russia to the north and Iran to the south.

It's, at least for me, surprisingly prosperous here in Baku.

There are fleets of Mercedes out on the streets.

It's an oil-rich country.

Former Soviet Republic.

What is it like to live here?

Well, Azerbaijan, the country is divided.

Like, basically, you have Baku, the actually center of Baku, which is very prosperous,

and the outskirts. It's where my family leaves. In the outskirts, people, they don't look

as happy as in the city center. The buildings are not as gorgeous.

The streets are not done.

There is a lot of mud in the streets and so on.

But you don't see it in the city center.

And what we have a name for it, the road that starts from the airport and ends in the

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