Ulvi Hasanli's wife has been banned from leaving Azerbaijan.
Rubaba Guliyeva, the wife of Ulvi Hasanli, the director of Abzas Media, who was convicted in Azerbaijan, was not allowed to leave the country when she went to the Vaclav Havel Prize award ceremony at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, for which her husband is one of the nominees.
As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the Georgian publications Netgazeti and Batumelebi, and Azerbaijani journalist and director of Abzas Media, Ulvi Hasanli, were included in the list of finalists for the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize.
On June 20, a Baku court sentenced journalists and employees of the Azerbaijani online publication Abzas Media to lengthy prison terms. The publication's director, Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief, Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, and economist Farid Mehralizade were each sentenced to nine years in prison. Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gayimova were sentenced to eight years each, and Mohammed Kekalov was sentenced to seven years. On July 20, the convicted director of Abzas Media, Ulvi Hasanli, announced an indefinite hunger strike in protest against his transfer to the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex, where he is denied access to his family. On July 31, Hasanli's family demanded his hospitalization. On the 17th day, he ended his hunger strike at the request of his family and due to a scheduled appellate court hearing on the case. On September 9, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.
Gasanli's wife, Rubaba Guliyeva, was unable to fly from Baku to Strasbourg on September 28. She was invited to the Vaclav Havel Prize award ceremony at PACE on September 29, for which her husband was a finalist.
As Guliyeva told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, she was told at passport control at Baku Airport that the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs had imposed a ban on her leaving the country. However, Guliyeva was not told in what case her rights were being restricted.
She contacted Samir Ismayilov, an investigator at the Baku City Police Headquarters who was handling the Abzas Media case. However, the investigator stated that he had no information about Guliyeva being banned from leaving Azerbaijan.
A media law expert pointed out that imposing a travel ban on a person who is not under investigation or accused is unjustified.
"The investigation can only ask a witness not to leave for a short time. In this case, even if Guliyeva were a witness in the Abzas Media case, the investigation and trial have been completed and the verdict has already entered into force. Therefore, any restrictions on the rights of the convicted persons' family members are unlawful," the lawyer told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs could not be reached for comment.
The Havel Prize is an annual award for outstanding achievements in the protection of human rights in Europe and abroad. Awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe jointly with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation since 2013. The prize consists of €60,000, a trophy, and a diploma.
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