Editor-in-chief of Abzas Media Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifgizi), along with journalists Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, have been from the central Baku pretrial detention centre to the southern Lankaran district, over 250 kilometres away.
According to Abzas Media, the journalists were transferred to the correctional labour complex in the village of Gurumba in Lankaran on Thursday.
Relatives of the journalists told Abzas Media that the journalists did not inform them of their new address before the transfer.
‘In the morning, at 9:00, they were told to be ready by 13:00. They didn't know where they were being taken until they reached Lankaran’, the article read.
Their relatives claimed that during the transfer, deputy warden Javid Gulaliyev treated Absalamova roughly.
‘The journalists claim that the two- to three-hour distance from Baku to Lankaran creates significant difficulties in meeting with their families’, Abzas Media reported. They added, citing the journalists’ families, that their transfer was related to their writing activities.
While detained, the three journalists have been writing about the harsh conditions in prison, the discrimination towards women prisoners, and other human rights violations.
Gulnara Mehdiyeva
Human rights lawyer Fariz Namazli stated privately on social media that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) may consider the transfer of a prisoner to a facility located hundreds of kilometres from their place of residence a violation of the right to life.
‘This may involve significant financial and physical hardship for the prisoner’s family, including long journeys, additional expenses, and loss of employment’, Namazli highlighted.
He stressed that the ECHR had repeatedly emphasised that prison conditions should not be used ‘to completely separate a prisoner from their family’.
‘On the contrary, the state has a duty to protect a prisoner’s family and social ties and promote their rehabilitation. The court notes that sending a prisoner to a facility remote from their place of residence, where their family has virtually no opportunity to see them, is more than just the “ordinary difficulties of detention” ’, Namazli stressed.
Abzas Media Director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-Chief Sevinj Abbasova, project coordinator Mahammad Kekalov, investigative Journalist Hafiz Babali, journalists Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, and RFE/RL economist Farid Mehralizada were originally detained in November 2023 on charges of smuggling. All have denied the accusations, claiming the charges were politically motivated.
In June, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Hasanli, Abbasova, Babali, and Mehralizada to nine years in prison; Absalamova and Gasimova to eight years; and Kekalov to seven years and six months.
Aytan Farhadova
