Abzas Media women journalists held at the Penitentiary Complex in Lankaran say that promises made to them by prison authorities have not been fulfilled.

Journalist Elnara Gasimova told her family that although they were promised non-smoking cells upon their transfer to the facility, they are currently being held in shared cells with inmates who smoke.

“It’s been 14 days, and the promises remain unfulfilled. We were told this would be arranged once the quarantine period ended. Nargiz and I are being held in a room with smokers. I have bronchial asthma, and cigarette smoke makes it difficult to breathe. Nargiz also suffers from eye irritation and shortness of breath due to the smoke,” Gasimova said.

She added that when they ask prison officials when they will be moved to a non-smoking cell, they are told: “It will happen soon. Please be patient.”

According to Gasimova, only two cells for women have been opened in the complex, housing a total of 12 inmates.

“One cell is for smokers, the other for non-smokers. Although the three of us do not smoke, two of us have been placed in the smokers’ cell. This is harming our health,” she said.

Gasimova also stated that the prison administration has been withholding printed materials from independent media brought by their families.

“Even when our families print out news articles from independent media and bring them to us, they are confiscated. Last week, after the materials were brought in, the head of the facility, Babak Isgandarov, read them and said he would report to his superiors before deciding whether we could receive them. In the end, we weren’t given those materials. Instead, we were sent copies of "Iki Sahil", "Azerbaijan", and "Ses" newspapers (all pro-government publications) from August and September, 2025. We told Isgandarov that we had not subscribed to or requested those papers. Only reports from independent media can meet our need for accurate information,” Gasimova said.

She added that the journalists are currently being kept in an information blockade.

Abzas Media’s editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgizi and reporters Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova were transferred to the Lankaran Penitentiary Complex on 25 September. The journalists say that the distance between Baku and Lankaran limits their families’ ability to visit them. They believe their transfer to another region is linked to their professional work as journalists.

***

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. On 9 September, the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.