Abzas Media Trials

The trial of the Abzas Media case officially commenced on December 17, 2024. The journalists are facing smuggling and other serious economic crimes charges, including illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, and tax evasion, which they unanimously continue to reject. The journalists on trial include  Abzas Media’s director, Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifqizi, deputy director Mahammad Kekalov, journalists Nargiz Absalamova, Elnara Gasimova, Hafiz Babali and Radio Liberty employee Farid Mehralizada. All six have been in pretrial detention since November 2023.

The hearing occurred at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes and was marked by significant controversies. While at first, journalists and family members were denied entry into the courtroom, allegedly due to space restrictions, after objections, the court cleared the room to ensure those directly connected to the trial were present in the courtroom.

During the hearing, Sevinj Vagifqizi objected to the presence of Judges Rasim Sadikhov and Novruz Karimov, citing their prior involvement in politically motivated arrests, particularly in the case of ex-political prisoner human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. Despite these objections, the judges declined to recuse themselves. While the defendants’ request to be removed from the glass cage and sit with their lawyers was granted, the court rejected most motions, including requests to dismiss the charges and release the defendants under house arrest without providing sufficient justification.

The next substantive hearing in Abzas Media case was held on December 28. Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi), the editor-in-chief of “Abzas Media,” who was arrested in November 2023, said during the hearing in her statement, that if so much smuggling had occurred, “why was the Customs Committee not aware of it?” Farid Mehralizadeh, a Radio Liberty correspondent arrested in connection with the Abzas Media case, accused the court of illegally concealing the case and violating the Criminal Procedure Code. He accused the prosecutor of lying: “Yes, you are a lying prosecutor. If you were Buratino (a Russian literary character based on Pinocchio, whose nose grows longer when he lies), your nose would reach the wall.”