Three jailed journalists from Abzas Media – editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, and reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasımova – have been transferred from the Baku Investigative Detention Centre to a penitentiary facility in Qurumba village, Lankaran, around three hours’ drive (over 250 km) from the capital.

Their families told Abzas Media the transfer happened suddenly on 25 September:

“At 9 a.m. they were told they had one hour to get ready. Until they reached Lankaran, they did not know where they were being taken,” one family member said.

The journalists are now being held far from Baku, making visits by relatives much harder.

They have also alleged that some of their personal belongings were stolen during the transfer. According to Vagifgizi, after the final inspection at the Baku detention centre, almost all of Absalamova’s possessions disappeared – including clothes, shoes, hygiene products, medicines, dishes and cosmetics.

“Her belongings were stolen. The process was overseen by deputy warden Javid Gulaliyev, who is responsible,” she told her family.

Vagifgizi added that some cleaning supplies belonging to her and to Gasımova were also missing.

“Since they couldn’t get bribes from us, it seems they consoled themselves with theft. Now we are demanding the return of what was taken,” she said.

Relatives further claim that during the transfer, Gulaliyev behaved aggressively towards Absalamova.

They believe the decision to move the women to Lankaran is intended as an additional form of pressure in retaliation for their reporting.

Since November 2023, Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, project coordinator Mahammad Kekalov, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, reporters Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, and RFE/RL contributor and economist Farid Mehralizade have been in custody.

They are accused of smuggling and serious financial crimes, allegations they and their supporters, both in Azerbaijan and internationally, reject as politically motivated and linked to their journalistic work.

The pre-trial and trial phases together have lasted nearly two years.

On June 20, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced Hasanli, Vagifgizi, Babali and Mehralizade to nine years in prison; Absalamova and Gasimova to eight years; and Kekalov to seven years and six months.