ULVI HASANLI

About Ulvi Hasanli

Ulvi Hasanli, born on 10 August 1987 in Ganja, Azerbaijan. He is married and has a two-year-old daughter named Suad.

Before his arrest in November 2023, Hasanli was the director of Abzas Media, an independent online platform known for its investigative reporting on high-level government corruption.

Before his work with Abzas Media, Hasanli was active in several civic movements. He began his civic and political activities at a young age, joining the Dalga Youth Movement in 2005 and serving as its leader from 2 October 2006 to 19 September 2007. He later founded and led the „Azad Gənclik“ (Free Youth) organisation and became a member of the board of the Nida Civic Movement. Hasanli also ran for parliamentary elections in 2015 and 2020, but his candidacy was not accepted in 2015. Hasanli was also subjected to 15 days of administrative detention in July 2013. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) later ruled in his favour, acknowledging the violation of his rights and ordering the Azerbaijani government to compensate him. Hasanli was also targeted by the Pegasus spyware software, through which the Azerbaijani authorities had been secretly monitoring journalists and activists for years.

Hasanli’s involvement in media began with Abzas Media in 2016. Shortly afterwards, he was conscripted as part of Azerbaijan’s mandatory military service, despite health issues that had previously granted him a deferral. He served on the front line for a year before returning to his journalistic work. Alongside blogger Mehman Huseynov, Hasanli contributed to investigations by Sancaq Production, focusing on corruption among government officials.

Hasanli’s work with Abzas Media has been particularly impactful, exposing corruption linked to construction contracts in Karabakh and implicating high-ranking officials, including State Security Service head Ali Nagiyev, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, and President Ilham Aliyev’s chief bodyguard, Baylar Eyyubov. This work has made him a target of government persecution. He has been detained multiple times, including an administrative offence charge in 2013 and a forced military conscription in 2016, despite a medical deferral.

Hasanli was arrested on 20 November 2023, on his way to the airport. He reported being subjected to violence during his arrest and interrogation at the Main Police Department of Baku City. Later that day, he was taken to Abzas Media’s office, where authorities claim to have found €40,000.

Case description

Ulvi Hasanli was initially charged under Article 206.3.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code (smuggling by a group of persons). However, the indictment was later amended to include more severe accusations, such as illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering by an organised group, tax evasion, and document forgery.

Hasanli has consistently rejected these charges, stating they are fabricated in retaliation for Abzas Media’s investigative reporting on government corruption. This type of charge has been frequently used against political and civic activists in Azerbaijan.

On 17 December 2024, Hasanli’s trial, which was part of a larger case against Abzas Media journalists, began at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. The trial was presided over by Judge Azar Taghiyev. During the proceedings, the defence’s motions to release Hasanli into house arrest were rejected. On 20 June 2025, the court convicted Hasanli on all charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

In late 2024, Hasanli reportedly spent more than three weeks in a punishment cell with limited light and inadequate heating as a form of disciplinary action. In early 2025, Hasanli, along with his co-defendants, refused to attend several court hearings to protest their ill-treatment, including being transported in crowded, smoke-filled vehicles. He was later transferred to a prison in a remote part of the country, a move which has been viewed as a further act of repression.

During his time in detention, his health has reportedly deteriorated. His lawyer and family have repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of adequate medical care, as well as the unhygienic conditions of his cell. On 20 July 2025, he began an open-ended hunger strike to protest the refusal of the authorities despite the promise to transfer him back to the Baku Pretrial Detention Centre.