The Azerbaijani government attempts to silence yet another journalist
On May 7, 2025, journalist Ulviyya Ali (Guliyeva) was arrested by police in Baku, Azerbaijan. The police used undue violence during her arrest, and her home was ransacked. According to feminist activist Gulnara Mehdiyeva,
“The entire apartment was in disarray. Drawers, cabinet doors, and even her piano was taken apart. We still don’t know what they took or what they ‘found.’”
Following her arrest, a Baku court on May 7, 2025, ordered Ali held in pre-trial detention for 1 month 29 days on what appear to be trumped-up charges linked to her journalism work. When brought to court, the journalist lifted her handcuffed wrists and declared, “They have handcuffed the arms of the media”. During her detention, police officers struck Ulviyya Ali five times in the head in an apparent attempt to force her to disclose her phone passcode.
In a personal note posted on her own social media account, Ulviyya Ali said:
“If you are reading this message, it means I have been arrested on trumped-up charges due to my journalism, in violation of the law. Noting that, like my fellow journalist colleagues, I have committed no crime—I have neither brought into the country what they call “illegal funding,” nor committed any other offence. I also have no professional ties to “Meydan TV.” And even if I did, cooperating with “Meydan TV” does not constitute a crime. I have been collaborating with “Voice of America” for a long time now.
By now, it is a known fact that the Azerbaijani state does not tolerate independent media. As a result,, over 20 journalists are currently behind bars, and I have become one of them. Since 2016, I have tried to remain faithful to professional ethics in my work and to amplify the voices of those facing injustice, regardless of their religious, ethnic, political identity, gender or sexual orientation, or social status. I will continue this work from behind bars, just like my imprisoned colleagues.
In the face of the political will that wants to drown Azerbaijan in silence, our voices will always break through the silence. This may be the last piece I write while free. But I believe that a just voice can never be silenced.
Journalism is not a crime! Our only crime is our beliefs!”
Ulviyya Ali is the 11th journalist arrested in relation to the “Meydan TV case”. The journalist had worked as an Azerbaijani‐language correspondent with Voice of America until March 2025, when she was laid off as part of U.S. government budget cuts to public broadcasting. She is also alumni of IVLP program of the U.S. State Department.
Previously, she was banned from leaving Azerbaijan after the police interrogation on January 16th, in the case against independent media Meydan TV. Later, she tried to challenge travel ban, but a Baku court refused to consider her complaint. No further context was provided by the court regarding the refusal.
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Journalists arrested since November 2023:
The Meydan TV case:
Aynur Elgunash
Aysel Umudova
Aytaj Ahmadova
Fatima Movlamli
Khayala Aghayeva
Natig Javadli
Nurlan Libre
Ramin Jabrailzada
Shamshad Aghayev
Ulvi Tahirov
Ulviyya Ali
The Abzas Media case:
Elnara Gasimova
Farid Mehralizada
Hafiz Babali
Mahammad Kekalov
Nargiz Absalamova
Sevinc Vagifgizi
Ulvi Hasanov
Kanal 11:
Teymir Karimov
Kanal 13:
Aziz Orucov
The Toplum TV case:
Elmir Abbasov
Farid Ismayilov