Wife of Jailed Journalist Ulvi Hasanli: He Was Tortured for Starting a Hunger Strike

After five days of complete silence, imprisoned journalist Ulvi Hasanli made his first phone call to his family today from the Umbaki pre-trial detention facility, where he is currently being held.

His wife, Rubaba Guliyeva, shared the update on June 30. She reported that Hasanli had been placed in solitary confinement (the punishment cell) since the day he was transferred to the facility, as he had launched a hunger strike:

“His voice was extremely weak. He said he has been on hunger strike for five days. None of his personal belongings were given to him. He has been wearing the same clothes and denied the opportunity to change. Because of the hunger strike, he has faced pressure and threats, and has been subjected to torture,” said Guliyeva.

She added that according to the authorities, she will not be allowed visitation rights, even though they have a minor child together, as the couple are not officially married.

“It is also unclear whether he will be allowed to make further phone calls,” she noted.

Hasanli reportedly told his wife that Fikrat Qafarov, the head of operations and regime affairs of the Penitentiary Service, signed the unlawful decisions affecting him.

On June 20, the Baku Serious Crimes Court issued verdicts in the high-profile “AbzasMedia case,” with Judge Rasim Sadykhov presiding.

• Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinc Vagifgizi, Hafiz Babali, and Farid Mehralizadeh were each sentenced to 9 years in prison.
• Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova received 8 years,
• Mohammad Kekalov was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months.

The arrests began in November 2023, at a time when AbzasMedia was conducting investigations into government corruption. In May 2024, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Farid Mehralizadeh was also detained, although AbzasMedia stated he was not part of their team.

All of the journalists deny the charges and maintain that their arrest is a politically motivated reprisal for their anti-corruption reporting.

Both local and international human rights organizations have condemned the arrests as politically driven and have called for the immediate release of the detained journalists.