Azerbaijani journalists in prison complain of harsh treatment and restricted access to water
In a statement published Friday by Abzas Media, journalists Sevinc Vagifgizi, Nargiz Absalamova, and Elnara Gasimova alleged that the Azerbaijani prison service has been denying detainees access to water — even in “extreme heat” — since the three began their hunger strike.
“Water is only given for half an hour in the morning and evening. In that short time, 153 women cannot wash themselves, clean their dishes, or fill their empty water containers,” their appeal read.
The journalists, who are being held in the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center, accused the prison service of “trying to turn other detainees against us” amid their hunger strike, insisting that they “stop this kind of torture.”
Their appeal comes days after relatives of the journalists said the women had been subjected to psychological pressure, held in poor conditions, and physically mistreated since beginning their protest, according to a report published Wednesday by Abzas Media.
The journalists began their hunger strike on Tuesday, July 22, following a declaration by Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, who said two days earlier that he was launching an “indefinite” hunger strike. In a Facebook post dated July 20, Hasanli accused Azerbaijan’s Penitentiary Service of refusing to implement a court ruling that would have returned him to the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center. Instead, he remains at Umbaki prison, some “55-60 km” from his family, which he said makes visits from relatives and lawyers difficult.
“I will not stop, no matter what happens, until I am returned to where I belong by court order,” Hasanli wrote. He also noted that he has been unable to see his 3-year-old daughter, claiming there are “no conditions to meet [her].”
After joining the hunger strike, Vagifgizi, Absalamova, and Gasimova were separated and held in isolation. According to Abzas Media, they described the isolation cells as “unclean” with “no proper ventilation," and lacking shower facilities. A prison official allegedly used force against Absalamova when she was moved into isolation.
“We will not end the strike until Ulvi [Hasanli] is returned to the detention center,” the three women reportedly said.
The protest comes a month after six journalists from Abzas Media were sentenced to between seven and a half and nine years in prison on financial crimes charges that press freedom advocates have called politically motivated.
Editor-in-chief Vagifgizi was sentenced to nine years, reporters Absalamova and Gasimova to eight, deputy director Mahammad Kekalov to seven and a half, and freelance journalist Hafiz Babali to nine. Also sentenced was Fahrid Mehralizade, an economist and contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who received nine years.
All the journalists denied the charges and said the case was retaliation for their work.
On Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) posted an appeal on the social media network Bluesky in response to reports of mistreatment: “Ill-treatment, visit bans, solitary confinement . . . This persecution must stop and they must be released!”
Earlier this week, RSF also published a letter by Vagifgizi in which she explained her decision to return to Azerbaijan in November 2023 despite the risk of arrest. “I could not sit safely in a secure location while our colleagues were being summoned by the police and arrested one after another,” she wrote.
“If the price of our corruption investigations was imprisonment, then we had to face that, — not run away,” she added. “Running away never solves any problem anyway.”
The arrest of the Abzas Media journalists marked the start of a wider government campaign against critical media. More than two dozen journalists have been detained since then. The outlet has continued publishing, now run by a team in exile.
On Tuesday — National Press Day in Azerbaijan — Amnesty International released a report highlighting the pressure on independent media and describing the mistreatment of detained reporters, some of whom are allegedly “held in harsh conditions, and subjected to ill-treatment.”
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) contacted Azerbaijan’s Penitentiary Service for comment but received no response by publication time.
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