Hafiz Babali

Affiliated media: Abzas Media , Employee

Incident date: June 20, 2025

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: apa.az

Location: Azerbaijan, Baku

Additional information:

On June 20, the final hearing in the criminal case against employees of Abzas Media took place at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes, presided over by Judge Rasim Sadikhov. According to the ruling, Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinc Vagifgizi (Abbasova), and Farid Mehralizade were each sentenced to nine years in prison. Hafiz Babali also received a nine-year sentence, while Mahammad Kekalov was sentenced to seven years and six months. Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were each sentenced to eight years. The group of journalists was initially charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling committed by a group). During the investigation, additional charges were brought under several articles, including Article 193-1.3.2 (legalisation of criminally obtained funds or other property in large amounts).