The wife of jailed Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli has been prevented from leaving Azerbaijan.

Rubaba Guliyeva was due to travel to Strasbourg on 28 September to attend the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize ceremony, where her husband was among the finalists.

However, at Baku airport she was told by border officials that the Interior Ministry had imposed a travel ban. No explanation was given as to which case the restriction was linked to.

Guliyeva said she contacted Samir Ismayilov, an investigator at the Baku City Police Department’s Grave Crimes Unit, but he told her he was unaware of the situation and would look into it. The Interior Ministry has not commented.

Hasanli and five other Abzas Media journalists were arrested on charges of smuggling and financial crimes, accusations that rights groups have dismissed as baseless.

In June this year, they were sentenced to between seven and a half and nine years in prison. Despite the verdicts now being final, restrictions on their family members - including frozen bank accounts and travel bans - remain in force.