Verdict against Abzas Media Journalists Upheld

The appeal of the defendants in the Abzas Media case was denied. On September 9, the Baku Court of Appeals, chaired by Judge Zafar Akhmedov, upheld the verdict against the individuals involved in the case.

In protest against the biased court, the accused female journalists unfurled posters with slogans such as "Free media cannot be silenced," "Journalism is not a crime," "End to corruption!", and "Ilham Aliyev, declare your income."

Court security staff confiscated the posters from the defendants and tore them up.

Five employees of the online publication Abzas Media—including its director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi, translator Mahammad Kekalov, and reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova—as well as Hafiz Babali, head of the economic department of the Turan news agency and an investigative journalist, were arrested between November 2023 and January 2024 on charges of foreign currency smuggling. Subsequently, Farid Mehralizade, an economic columnist for "Radio Azadlig," was also arrested in connection with this case.

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

They rejected the charges, stating 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 lengthy prison terms. The publication's director, Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, and economist Farid Mehralizade were each sentenced to 9 years in prison, while Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova received 8 years, and Mahammad Kekalov was sentenced to 7.5 years.

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

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