AbzasMedia case: how investigative journalists are hunted in Azerbaijan

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

How did journalists investigating corruption at the highest echelons of power find themselves under investigation on charges of smuggling?

JAMnews partner Meydan.TV tells the story.

Since November 20, 2023, the staff of the Azerbaijani online publication AbzasMedia, whose trademark has been high-profile investigative journalism, has faced reprisals. Ulvi Hasanli, the director of the publication, was detained at night in front of his house by men in civilian clothes and assumed that he would be punished precisely for publishing these investigations.

The men in civilian clothes who detained the journalist “turned out” to be officers of the Main Police Department of Baku. After that, in the presence of Ulvi Hasanli, his apartment and office of AbzasMedia were searched. The police claims that 40 thousand euros were found in a cupboard in the office.

Hasanli claims he was beaten during the arrest:

“They were all wearing masks. And I think I got my eye blackened there in the cab. They brought me to the police department. One of the policemen hit [me] with his fist, another kicked me. They asked me about Abzas. “Why don’t you write about Karabakh? Why do you write about corruption?'”

While news of his detention was spreading on social networks, the deputy director of the newspaper Magomed Kekalov was also taken directly from his home, to where unknown.

The AbzasMedia team issued a statement saying that Hasanli faced physical violence during the detention and that they will continue to inform the public:

“On behalf of AbzasMedia, we state that the detention of U. Hasanli and the search in his apartment and office is illegal. Everything that is happening is related to his journalistic activities. Therefore he should be released immediately.

We consider the head of state Ilham Aliyev responsible for this illegal detention. We have published a series of investigations of corruption crimes committed by the President of the country and officials appointed by him, and we believe that Hasanli’s detention is related to this.

We believe that the President ordered the arrest in order to shut down our publication and prevent us from informing you about corruption crimes. But no arrests or other pressures can stop us from telling you the truth.

You deserve the truth and you have the right to know by whom, where and how your tax dollars are being spent. Our arrests will not limit your freedom to be informed. We will continue our investigations.”

On November 21, answering Meydan TV’s questions, AbzasMedia Editor-in-Chief Sevinc Vagifgizi said that after his arrest, police questioned Ulvi Hasanli about the publication’s investigations. In particular, he was asked why AbzasMedia “writes not about successes in Karabakh, but about corruption?”, implying investigations into companies involved in Karabakh’s reconstruction:

“Ulvi Hasanli was arrested directly on Ilham Aliyev’s order. Because we proved that companies owned by members of the president’s family were winning tenders for projects in Karabakh through non-transparent mechanisms, implementing them on budget funds and profiting from it. And this, of course, infuriated them. But we declare that even if Ulvi Hasanli or I or any of us end up in jail, there are those who will continue this work. Let them not think that they can stop these investigations by arresting individuals.”

Sevinc Vagifgizi claims that the 40,000 euros allegedly found in AbzasMedia’s office has nothing to do with the publication or its employees, and was planted there by the police.

From the airport to prison

On the night of November 21, on her return to the country from a trip abroad, Sevinc Vagifgizi was detained on the plane. She was first brought to her apartment, where a search was conducted. According to the lawyer Elchin Sadygov, as a result of this search, which lasted more than two hours, nothing of interest to the investigation was found. After that Sevinc Vagifgizi y was brought to the Main Police Department.

A case was opened against the management of AbzasMedia under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code – smuggling committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. According to the decision of Khatai District Court, a preventive measure in the form of detention for 4 months was chosen against them.

Three days after Muhammed Kekalov was brought from his house in an unknown direction, the information that he was also arrested was confirmed. However, Kekalov said that he was fine and refused a lawyer. He was also detained for 4 months.

On November 30, Interior Minister Vilayat Eyvazov, responding to a request from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called the allegations that the charges against AbzasMedia’s management were related to their professional activities completely unfounded.

According to Eyvazov, the three arrested journalists had smuggled “a large amount of foreign currency” across Azerbaijan’s state border “outside customs control or secretly and without declaration” and that the 40,000 euros found in Abzas Media’s office were “part” of this smuggled currency.

Shortly before the arrests of the Abzas Media employees, Azerbaijani state television and pro-government news sites began to circulate information about the need to launch a ruthless fight against non-governmental organizations and media structures cooperating with U.S. and European funds. These reports and publications claimed that there were networks in Azerbaijan engaged in espionage in favor of the United States. And after the arrest of the AbzasMedia management, the same media, disseminating copies of documents allegedly obtained from the investigation, said that AbzasMedia was “muddying the waters” in an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country, and that Ulvi Hasanli and Muhammad Kekalov were illegally bringing especially large sums of money into the country. These materials also mentioned the names of people who cooperated with AbzasMedia and emphasized that they had committed illegal acts.

AbzasMedia employees, as well as family members of the management of the publication, were summoned to the police to testify, their bank accounts were blocked, and restrictions were imposed on their exit from the country.

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

From witness to suspect

On December 1, an AbzasMedia employee, journalist Nargiz Absalamova was summoned to the Main Police Department of Baku to testify again, and from there she was taken to the Khatai District Court, where a preventive measure in the form of 3-month arrest was applied. Her lawyer, Shahla Humbatova, says Nargiz Absalamova considers her arrest illegal and connects it with her professional activity:

“Both in court and at the signing of the investigation report, she stated that she did not commit any crime and has nothing to do with what is stated in the charges. The court deliberated for a very long time. Apparently, it hesitated, because at the hearing we showed how unreasonable the request of the investigative body for arrest was. It’s obvious. But in the end, the court simply announced a three-month detention without justifying its decision in any way.

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

But the most interesting thing is that in the petition filed by the investigator to elect a preventive measure, the need for detention was explained by the fact that Sevinc Vagifgizi, Ulvi Hasanli, Mohammed Kekalov and Nargiz Absalamova were engaged in smuggling in collusion with other people whose identity is currently being established. And since Nargiz Absalamova did not assist the investigation in exposing these persons, the investigation believes that if she remains at large, she will come into contact with these people and help them escape from the investigation.”

Why is AbzasMedia in the crosshairs?

Many believe that the pressure on AbzasMedia is primarily due to the fact that the publication is conducting anti-corruption investigations concerning the presidential family and officials close to the president, as well as construction in Karabakh and the companies involved therein.

One investigation says that the construction of a residential complex of six multi-storey buildings in Agdam is being carried out by PMD Group LLC, which is part of a structural subdivision of PASHA Holding, which in turn belongs to members of President Ilham Aliyev’s family.

In addition to the residential complex, PMD Group has also started construction of two hotels in Agdam: Park Forest Hotel Agdam with 110 rooms and City Hotel Agdam with 130 rooms.

Another AbzasMedia investigation says that some local and Turkish companies involved in the construction of reservoirs and water intakes in the territories liberated from occupation had tax debts at the time of bidding.

The investigation emphasizes that the bidding was not transparent and the projects are eventually implemented by companies close to Ilham Aliyev’s family, a number of officials, or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

If their guilt is proven, AbzasMedia employees will face up to 8 years in prison.

Journalist Rauf Mirkadirov, who was imprisoned in 2014 and forced to leave the country after his release, recalls that this is not the first time that the Azerbaijani government is targeting the “democratic camp.”

“Unfortunately, when relations with Western states deteriorate, the domestic political situation in Azerbaijan changes dramatically. In principle, this is quite understandable. The authorities are trying to disable democratically-minded media, human rights NGOs, social and political activists. This is not the first time, we have already witnessed this in 2013-2014. The arrests that took place during that period affected politicians, journalists, and civil society representatives. The free press was practically put to rest, and the vast majority of independent and critical journalists faced pressure. In general, the government considers organizations and journalists engaged in such activities as agents of the West.”

Mirkadirov believes the crackdown on investigative and critical media may continue.

Some of those who testified as witnesses in the AbzasMedia case were later also brought as defendants, their bank accounts were blocked and they were banned from leaving the country. For example, Hafiz Babaly, an investigative journalist who cooperated with AbzasMedia, wrote on his Facebook page:

“It turns out that I am not just a witness in this fabricated case, but a defendant.

And the day after this decision was made, I was questioned as a witness at the Police Headquarters.

What unlawful act can I be accused of? Although I understand that we live in such an environment, in such a society and under such a regime that a puppet court can accuse any innocent person of the most serious crime and put him behind bars. Maybe it does, there are plenty of examples.

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

Have I collaborated with Abzas? Yes. I’m a journalist. It’s my job. As I said during the interrogation, there are very few media outlets left in Azerbaijan capable of publishing such investigations. Thanks to Abzas, my investigations received a wide resonance. In preparing these materials in accordance with the requirements of the genre, I, as a professional investigator, often had to work with hundreds of sources and documents. Those things that the prosecutor’s office does not “see”, I wrote down in detail and provided to the reader.

If I lived in another country, I would receive gratitude at the state level for such articles, and criminal cases would be initiated against those who get rich illegally. But in Azerbaijan, as you can see, everything is the opposite: the authorities persecute those who criticize them.”

After testifying in the case, economist Togrul Veliyev discovered that his bank accounts had been blocked:

“According to the decision issued by the Khatai District Court on the basis of a petition by the Police Headquarters on November 29 (the day after I was brought as a witness, I had already turned into a “close contact of the accused”), my bank accounts were seized.

The decision was issued on November 29, on December 1 it was sent to Pasha Bank, and the latter blocked all my accounts from December 5. Including the one where I receive my salary. That is, I was blocked from my salary.

Thus I am indefinitely formally and effectively without a paycheck.

How do you think a person who does not receive a salary should be? What should he live on?.”

According to lawyer and media expert Alesker Mammadli, with the Media Law passed in 2021, the government is trying to take the entire media sphere under control and there is no place for critical media:

“Since AbzasMedia is an example of a critical media, and therefore focuses on critical aspects, and also brings anti-corruption investigations to the forefront, they probably “offended” someone in this context, and as a result this process was triggered. Of course, I do not think that the arrested young people are guilty of anything. Nor do I think that the prosecution will be formed within the framework of objective evidence. All over the world it will be seen as an unambiguous suppression of freedom of press and freedom of expression, and in the real Azerbaijani society it is also perceived in this way.”

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

The arrests are not limited to AbzasMedia employees

On November 28, another journalist, Aziz Orudzhev, head of Kanal 13 Internet TV, was detained and his house searched. Lawyer Bahruz Bayramov told Meydan TV that a criminal case was opened against Orudzhev under Article 188.2 – unauthorized construction or installation works on a land plot without the right of ownership, use or lease.

Sabail District Court chose a measure of restraint against Aziz Orudzhev in the form of detention for 3 months. His brother Anar Orudzhev recalls that Aziz has been arrested once before and calls the current arrest illegal as well.

On December 4, civil activist and former police officer Ilhamiz Guliyev was arrested.

In early October, in an anonymous interview with AbzasMedia, he talked about how the police plant drugs on “undesirable” people, and a few days later he was sentenced to 30 days of administrative arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and disobeying the police. A month after his release, Guliyev was arrested again, this time accused of drug trafficking.

His relatives say that police officers attacked Guliyev during his arrest, as a result of which he suffered head injuries and was tortured in detention.

A number of experts and civil society representatives link all these arrests to the cooling of relations between Azerbaijan and the United States. On November 15, 2023, during his speech in Congress, US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien, recalling the operation conducted by Azerbaijan in September in Karabakh, expressed inadmissibility of further suspension of the 907th Amendment. He linked this step to the lack of progress in peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The 907th Amendment, which has exacerbated tensions between the two countries since 1992, is a change that the U.S. Congress made to the “Freedom Support Act” on the grounds of “occupation of Karabakh and the blockade of the Armenian population there.” This 907th amendment prohibited the U.S. from providing direct state aid to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan became the only post-Soviet country to be deprived of this aid. However, in 2001 the U.S. Senate gave the President the right to suspend this amendment. This is what all American presidents have done since then.

After meeting with Ilham Aliyev on December 6, James O’Brien in a Twitter post called the meeting “the first constructive conversation on the future of US-Azerbaijan relations”.

James O’Brien: “Establishing lasting, dignified peace in the region will create historic opportunities.”

Human rights activist Rasul Jafarov draws attention to the fact that Azerbaijan punishes its citizens as a result of deteriorating relations with other countries. Jafarov is sure that other methods should be chosen to relieve tension between the states:

“I believe that the arrests of AbzasMedia employees should be considered in this context. And this will not be an American discovery. Because it has already been announced in the media – I mean the report on AZTV [Azerbaijan’s state television – editor’s note] – saying that since these countries do not allow us to conclude a peace treaty, we will also start doing something against these countries. This is the context in which these arrests took place. And our position as a civil society organization is that the geopolitical situation or geopolitical conflicts should in no way lead to the violation of rights and freedoms. Labeling someone as an agent, someone who works for a foreign country, someone who represents the interests of other countries here – we consider this approach to be absolutely wrong.”

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

International Media Institute, Amnesty International, The Committee of Protect Journalist, Human Rights Watch ,and a number of other international human rights organizations issued a statement condemning the repression of AbzasMediaya and demanding the release of the arrested journalists.

“We urge the government of Azerbaijan to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

On December 2, the U.S. expressed “deep concern” about the ongoing arrests of journalists in Azerbaijan. Five employees of independent media outlets have been arrested in 10 days.

“We have seen the preliminary reports. As before, we are deeply concerned about the arrest of journalists in Azerbaijan,” a State Department spokesperson told Turan news in Washington after the detention of Nargiz Absalamova.

“We urge the government of Azerbaijan to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights and freedoms of those exercising freedom of expression.”

On November 28, the U.S. and German chargés d’affaires and the French ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan were separately summoned to the Foreign Ministry.

According to the official website of the Foreign Ministry, the diplomats were informed that the AbzasMedia information portal, with the participation of organizations registered in these countries and the embassies themselves, carries out illegal financial operations, and a serious protest was expressed in this regard.

It was noted that USAID, FreedomNow, New Democracy Fund and other organizations, violating the rules of granting grants, carried out illegal transfer of funds to the territory of Azerbaijan, making illegal contribution to the activities of AbzasMedia.

The Azerbaijani government states that no one is persecuted in Azerbaijan for their political views and beliefs, and the arrested journalists and socio-political activists are merely suffering the consequences stipulated by law of their deeds.

Repression of journalists in Azerbaijan

“With the support of Mediaset”