Arrested Abzas Media Journalists Complain About Unreasonable Treatment in Baku Pretrial Detention Center

The employees of the Abzas Media publication were subjected to inhuman treatment for going on a hunger strike in solidarity with their colleague Ulvi Hasanli.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, on June 20, a court in Baku sentenced journalists and employees of the Azerbaijani online publication Abzas Media to long terms. The director of the publication Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, economist Farid Mehralizade received 9 years in prison, Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gaimova - 8 years, and Mohammed Kekalov - 7 years.

On July 22, after Abzas Media Director Ulvi Hasanli went on a hunger strike, the publication's editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, as well as reporters Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, also joined his action in Baku Pretrial Detention Center No. 1.

As colleagues of the arrested told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the girls wrote an official statement to the head of Baku Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 Elnur Ismailov, stating that they were starting a hunger strike because the leadership of the penitentiary service failed to fulfill its promise to cancel the decision to transfer Hasanli to the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex. The journalists demanded that Gasanli be returned to Baku SIZO-1.

However, the next day, the journalists were taken out of their cells and placed separately in solitary confinement rooms, which have no shower, locked windows, and no ventilation, the source continued. Moreover, Absalamova was subjected to violence by one of the SIZO directors because she refused to leave her cell. "He tried to force her out of the room. Nargiz's arms were left with bruises," the source said.

The journalists believe that they were pressured to end their hunger strike. "However, they stated that they would not stop their hunger strike until Ulvi Hasanli was returned to the detention center," the source emphasized.

This information was also confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the mothers of Vagifgizi and Absalamova - Ofelia Magerramova and Sevda Absalamova.

Representatives of the penitentiary service were not available for comment.

You can read about who the high-profile anti-corruption investigations of the publication were dedicated to in the "Caucasian Knot" reference "Why Abzas Media displeased the Azerbaijani authorities".