Ulvi Hasanli subjected to inhuman treatment in pre-trial detention center - R.Guliyeva

Director of online publication 'Abzas Media' Ulvi Hasanli has been subjected to inhuman treatment after he made public the facts of tortures in Baku SIZO-1, where he is being held, said the journalist's wife Rubaba Guliyeva.

Recall that Ulvi Hasanli has been subjected to systematic inhuman treatment for more than a month after he wrote about the facts of tortures in Baku SIZO-1, where he is being held, she wrote on her facebook account. https://www.facebook.com/rubaba.guliyeva

According to her, after Guliyev's statement about tortures in the detention centre, the window in his cell was left closed during the summer heat.

She further cites other facts of moral and physical abuse of her husband.

‘On 7 September, when Ulvi was taken to court, he saw Sevinj Vagifgyzy (arrested editor-in-chief of “Abzas Media”), when they wanted to say hello an escort named Nadir in front of Sevinj and other prison staff brutally slammed Ulvi against the wall and hit him on the back,’ Guliyeva further writes.

According to Guliyeva, on 13 September, during a visit through a glass partition, Hasanli showed her the bruises on his back and reported pain in the area.

‘Then Ulvi showed this to the lawyers as well. However, despite the lawyers‘complaints to the relevant bodies, no action had been taken against the escort,’ Guliyeva continued.

She also informs of the obstacles to Hasanli' seeing her 2-year-old daughter.

‘We are only allowed to show Ulvi our daughter once a month. Each time it is coupled with physical and psychological pressures on the child, personal search. And on 20 September we were not provided with a meeting with Ulvi at all,’ Guliyeva continues.

According to her, on 27 September, before the meeting in the pre-trial detention centre, a small notebook was taken away from Guliyeva.

‘After the meeting, the notebook was not in place. And I don't know where they took it away and what they were looking for in it. When I protested, they said it was a ‘new order’. I usually write down the titles of books Ulvi wants to read in the notebook.  Despite the fact that the visits are held behind a glass partition I am thoroughly searched every time,’ notes the journalist's wife.

* Since 20 November 2023, six journalists and media workers from 'Abzas Media' have been arrested on charges of ‘currency smuggling’. They have denied the charges, linking the criminal case to investigations into corruption published in 'Abzas Media'.

International media protection organizations called on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release the detained journalists and to stop pressures on the media.--