Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has freed RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova from prison, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

She was challenging her 7 1/2-year sentence on charges widely viewed as retaliation for her award-winning reporting linking members of President Ilham Aliyev’s family to corruption.

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

The Supreme Court decision came three days before Azerbaijan celebrates its annual Republic Day with a mass amnesty.

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