The court refused to release the heads of “Abzas Media” on bail

On Tuesday, the Khatai District Court of Baku rejected the defense's petitions for the release of the director and editor-in-chief of the online publication “Abzas Media” - Ulvi Hasanli and Sevinj Vagifgizi on monetary bail. As lawyer Elchin Sadigov told Turan, Appeals will be filed against these decisions, a lawyer Elchin Sadigov told Turan.

The lawyer noted that the term of their arrest expires on June 20. However, after the involvement of economist Farid Mehralizade in the “Abzas Media” case and his arrest for 3 months and 20 days, the terms of Hasanli and Vagifgizi's arrest may also be extended until September 20.

* In November 2023 - January 2024, six journalists and media workers associated with “Abzas Media” were arrested on charges of "smuggling foreign currency by prior agreement".

In April, the head of the meclis.info website Imran Aliyev and the head of the Center for Election Monitoring and Democracy Education Anar Mammadli were also arrested  in this case. Subsequently, their cases were separated into separate proceedings. On June 1, economist Farida Mehralizade was also arrested in the case of “Abzas Media.”

Those arrested plead not guilty. Human rights activists recognized them as political prisoners. International organizations have called for the release of those arrested.