Ulvi Fakhraddin oglu Hasanli – Director of the Abzas Media, an online Azerbaijani media outlet Date of arrest: 20 November 2023 Charge: Article 206.4 (Smuggling, committed by the organized group) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.
On 7 August, 2024, the accused were brought additional charges under the Articles 192.3.2 (Illegal business, committed with gaining an extra large-scale income); 193-1.3.1 (Legalization of money or other property obtained by crime, committed by an organized group or a criminal organization (criminal association); 193-1.3.2 (Legalization of money or other property obtained by crime, committed in large amount); 213.2.1 (Evasion from payment of taxes, committed by the organized group); 320.1 (Fake of certificate or other official document giving the rights or releasing from duties, with a view of its use or selling of such document, as well as manufacturing in same purposes or selling of counterfeit state awards of the Azerbaijan Republic, stamps, seals, forms) and 320.2 (Use of obviously counterfeit documents) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic.
On 21 November 2023, the Baku City Khatai District Court issued a ruling: to apply a preventive measure against Ulvi Hasanli in the form of arrest for a period of 4 months.
The period of detention in custody during the investigation has been subsequently extended several times Sentence: On 20 June 2025, the Baku City Court for Serious Crimes sentenced to 9 years in prison Judge: Rasim Sadikhov 8 Place of detention: Pre-trial Detention Center at the Umbaki settlement in Baku City Qaradaq District Conclusion: Ulvi Hasanli, who was an activist of NIDA Civic Union in the late 2010s, has faced repeated harassment from the government.
In 2021, he was briefly detained over his work as an investigative journalist.
In 2022, he was one of three journalists who appealed against legislation obliging all media outlets to register with the state media registry under the threat of closure.
He also reported on the protests in Soyudlu village in June 2023, during which Azerbaijani police detained, beat, threatened, or obstructed the work of at least six journalists, including Hasanli.
On 20 November 2023, Ulvi Hasanli was supposed to take an early morning flight abroad, however he did not reach the airport.
For a long time his whereabouts had remained unknown, until his lawyer announces that Ulvi Hasanli had been detained by the police on his way to the airport and brought to the Baku City General Police Department.
After that, he was taken to the office of Abzas Media, where the access to journalists were forbidden and where in the course of personal search the police claimed to have found 40 000 euros.
In the meantime U.Hasanli managed to tell the journalists that he had been subjected to tortures in the Baku City General Police Department, "I was beaten even with feet, they demanded to explain why we wrote about corruption and did not write about Karabakh".
He also denied that the 40,000 euros allegedly found in the editorial office belonged either to him or Abzas Media openly stating that it had all been planted by the police.
The arrest of Ulvi Hasanli and other Abzas Media employees sparked outrage in Azerbaijani society.
There was also a reaction abroad, with statements from the organizations such as Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, International Press Center, Freedom Now, as well as from the EU and US.
Even in detention, Ulvi Hasanli carried on his journalistic work.
In September 2024, he made public the facts of torture and human rights violations in Pre-trial Detention Center № 1.
As a result, he was subjected to systematic pressure and bullying.
According to his wife, Rubaba Quliyeva, ‘On 7 September, when Ulvi was being taken to the courthouse, he saw Sevinj Vaqifqizi (the arrested editor-in-chief at Abzas Media).
When they wanted to say hello, a convoyer by the name of Nadir began to brutally beat Ulvi in front of Sevinj and other prison staff’ According to Quliyeva, on 13 September 2024, her husband showed his bruises and complained about back pain during the visit. ‘Then Ulvi showed it to the lawyers as well.
However, despite the lawyers’ complaints against the convoyer to the relevant authorities, no action had been taken,’ continued Quliyeva. 9
