International journalistic organizations have condemned the mistreatment of Abzas Media journalists.

Nine international journalistic organizations have issued a joint statement to draw attention to the cruel treatment of arrested journalists from the online publication Abzas Media in Azerbaijan.

"We, the undersigned organizations defending press freedom, freedom of expression, and journalistic organizations, express deep concern regarding the escalating cruel treatment of imprisoned Azerbaijani journalists from Abzas Media and urge the Azerbaijani authorities to adhere to their international human rights obligations, including the UN Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," the document states.

Azerbaijan: IPI concerned by mistreatment of imprisoned journalists

They demanded humane and dignified conditions of detention for the journalists, as well as immediate access to medical and legal assistance.

The signatories called on the Azerbaijani authorities to comply with Azerbaijan's international human rights obligations.

"Ulvi Hasanli, director of Abzas Media, is being held in unacceptable conditions in the remote Umbaki prison after the Baku Court for Grave Crimes sentenced him to nine years in prison on June 20, 2025. Since his arrival, he has been denied clean clothes and forced to wear what he arrived in. Additionally, he has to sleep on a broken bed, which negatively affects his health. According to his family and reports from Meydan TV, two detention center employees beat him, resulting in torn clothes and a leg injury," the statement further noted.

Although the court decision obliges Hasanli to remain in the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center, the Penitentiary Service continues to hold him elsewhere. Hasanli previously announced a nine-day hunger strike in protest against his unlawful treatment. On July 20, he resumed his hunger strike as he had not been transferred even two weeks after the court decision.

His colleagues – Sevinj Vagifgyzy, sentenced to nine years in prison in the same case, as well as Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova, sentenced to eight years in prison – joined his hunger strike in solidarity and declared it indefinite. Their main demand is for Hasanli to be returned to the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center. On July 22, all three journalists were removed from their cells and placed in isolated rooms without a shower, ventilation, or open windows. Absalamova was subjected to physical pressure by a high-ranking prison official, resulting in visible injuries on her arms.

"We urge the Azerbaijani authorities to transfer Mr. Hasanli to the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center in accordance with the court decision previously issued in this case. We also demand that his imprisoned colleagues be treated lawfully and their rights respected: arbitrary isolation, deprivation of basic needs, physical violence, and coercive measures against these individuals must cease," concludes the statement, signed by: Justice for Journalists Foundation, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Press Institute (IPI), European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), Index on Censorship, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the Rory Peck Trust (RPT).

On July 28, Vagifgyzy, Gasymova, and Absalamova ended their hunger strike due to deteriorating health conditions, with their ailing parents worrying about the journalists.

The women also urged Hasanli to end his hunger strike, considering his mother's heart condition. They demanded Hasanli's return to the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center.

Five employees of the online publication Abzas Media, including director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgyzy, translator Mohammed Kekalov, reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova, as well as the head of the economic department of the Turan news agency, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, were arrested between November 2023 and January 2024 on charges of currency smuggling.

Following the preliminary investigation in August 2024, the defendants were charged with six additional articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

They rejected the accusations and stated that they were being persecuted for their journalistic investigations.

On June 20, 2025, the court sentenced the journalists and employees of the Azerbaijani online publication Abzas Media to long prison terms. The director of the publication, Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgyzy, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, and economist Farid Mehralizade received 9 years of imprisonment each, Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova received 8 years each, and Mohammed Kekalov received 7 years.

The Abzas Media case became the beginning of a series of arrests of independent media journalists in Azerbaijan, starting in November 2023.

Several criminal cases were initiated under a similar scenario, including collective arrests of employees of independent online resources – Toplum TV and Meydan TV.