BAKU -- The office of Azerbaijan's president has vowed to do "everything possible" to catch those responsible for distributing a sexually explicit video in a bid to blackmail RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Khadija Ismayilova.
In a statement issued on March 15, the president's office "strongly condemned" what it described as a "dirty campaign" and "provocation."
The statement said authorities consider "interference in the private life of any journalist, regardless of their political position and views, to be unacceptable."
The video posted on the Internet showed sex scenes purportedly involving Ismayilova.
The correspondent said the blackmail campaign is aimed at halting her investigations into corruption and the financial dealings of President Ilham Aliyev and his family and that it will not silence her.
The incident prompted an outcry from international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
With AFP reporting