“AbzasMedia” issues a statement; imprisoned female journalists say they will join the hunger strike
Ulvi Hasanli, the director of AbzasMedia, met with his lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova in the Umbaki prison where he is being held. This information was shared by his wife, Rubaba Guliyeva.
During the meeting with his lawyer on June 1, Hasanli said he had been kept in a solitary confinement cell since June 26 and had been on a hunger strike since then.
As a result of the hunger strike, his weight dropped from 77 kg to 71 kg.
Despite his deteriorating health due to the hunger strike, Ulvi Hasanli has not received medical assistance or a doctor’s examination.
Since being transferred to Umbaki prison, he has been forced to wear the same clothes and has not been given clean clothing. He has had to sleep on an old and broken bed, which has caused health problems. According to his family, two detention center officers abused him, tore his clothes and pushed him, causing him to suffer an injury to his leg.
Ulvi Hasanli refuses to end his hunger strike as long as he is not allowed to meet with his family.
Despite the court’s decision to detain him in the Baku Pretrial Detention Center, he was moved to Umbaki. He is objecting to this relocation and demanding to be sent back.
Female journalists held in the Baku Pretrial Detention Center as part of the AbzasMedia case have stated that they will join Hasanli’s hunger strike if his demands are not met.
Lawyer Zibeyda Sadigova has filed appeals with the Penitentiary Service and the Ombudsman’s Office regarding the matter.
The statement says that what is happening to Ulvi Hasanli constitutes physical and psychological torture, a violation of international law, unlawful punishment, and inhumane treatment.
“The actions committed against Ulvi Hasanli are crimes against humanity. Azerbaijan cannot evade responsibility for these crimes under international law. We demand that President Ilham Aliyev take immediate action to put an end to these illegalities, that Minister of Justice Farid Ahmadov urgently visit the Penitentiary Complex in Umbaki settlement to assess the situation on site and that measures be taken against the responsible individuals, that Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev and Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva urgently and independently investigate the allegations of torture and inhumane treatment.” the statement says.
On June 20, 2025, during a hearing at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes presided over by Judge Rasim Sadikhov, a verdict was announced in the AbzasMedia case. Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Vagifgizi, Hafiz Babali, and Farid Mehralizadeh were sentenced to 9 years in prison; Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova received 8 years; and Mohammad Kekalov was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months.
In November 2023, the director and employees of AbzasMedia were arrested. In May of the previous year, Radio Azadliq journalist Farid Mehralizadeh was also detained in connection with this case, although AbzasMedia stated that he was not affiliated with them.
The arrested journalists reject the charges and claim that the arrests are politically motivated and linked to their investigations into corruption.
Local and international human rights organizations also view the arrests as politically driven and are calling for the immediate release of the journalists.
