The director of “Abzas Media,” Ulvi Hasanli, announced during a meeting with his family today that he is starting an indefinite hunger strike.

He addressed the public with the following statement:

“Dear friends, as of today – July 20 – I am starting an indefinite hunger strike.

The reason is the illegal actions of the Penitentiary Service (PS), particularly their failure to comply with a court ruling that orders my transfer back to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center. On July 3, the Baku Serious Crimes Court approved a motion filed by my lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, and forwarded it to the Penitentiary Service. However, more than 15 days have passed since the ruling, and the leadership of the Penitentiary Service still refuses to carry out the transfer. It seems the Penitentiary Service does not respect court decisions and considers itself above the law.

The main reason I ended my previous 9-day hunger strike was my deep concern for the health of my loved ones and my imprisoned female colleagues who joined the hunger strike in solidarity. Moreover, Rauf Nabiyev, head of the penitentiary complex in Umbaki where I’m currently being held, repeatedly promised on behalf of PS leadership that I would be transferred to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center by July 12. But the results speak for themselves.

The main reason I ended my previous 9-day hunger strike was my deep concern for the health of my loved ones and my imprisoned female colleagues who joined the hunger strike in solidarity. Moreover, Rauf Nabiyev, head of the penitentiary complex in Umbaki where I’m currently being held, repeatedly promised on behalf of PS leadership that I would be transferred to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center by July 12. But the results speak for themselves.

That date has passed, and I haven’t been transferred. I waited another 8 days based on further promises of “today or tomorrow.” During this time, at least three transfers of prisoners to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center took place, but I was not among them.

The distance to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center is 10 km, while the Umbaki prison is 55–60 km away. This causes serious difficulties for meeting with my family, including my 3-year-old child, and with my lawyers. Moreover, there are no conditions here to meet with my child, so I cannot see her at all.

Despite repeatedly reporting these problems to the prison administration, I was told that the Penitentiary Service handles transfer issues and that the matter has been reported to them.

It seems this misconduct is retaliatory in nature and a deliberate act by the leadership of the Penitentiary Service.

I believe this is being done because of our statements and articles. Here, the accused are kept in poor conditions, subjected to inhumane treatment, and are treated as if they were the most dangerous criminals. Perhaps one could overlook these things. But the most critical issue is the illegality of the Penitentiary Service’s actions and the suffering this causes my family.

For the reasons listed above, I am starting an indefinite hunger strike and will not stop under any circumstances until I am returned to the facility designated by court order. If anything happens to me, the responsibility lies directly with the head of the Penitentiary Service, Deputy Minister of Justice General Mirsaleh Seyidov, and President Ilham Aliyev, who ordered our arrest.

Dear friends, I kindly ask my female colleagues not to join this hunger strike, as I am extremely concerned about their safety and health.

Once again, I publicly demand that the Penitentiary Service leadership stop their acts of retaliation and return me to the Baku Pretrial Detention Center.

I offer my heartfelt thanks in advance to everyone who supports me.”

Ulvi Hasanli

July 20, 2025