Journalist Ulviya Ali (Huseynova) was detained last night in Azerbaijan. She became the 11th journalist detained in the “Meydan TV case”.
Journalists from other media outlets, including Abzas Media, Toplum TV and Kanal-13, have also been persecuted in Azerbaijan. You can read about this in the “Caucasian Knot” report “Serial arrests of journalists in Azerbaijan”.
The news about the detention of Ulviya Ali (Huseynova) appeared this morning on the Meydan TV website.
Activist Gulnara Mehdiyeva reported on her social media that a search was conducted in the journalist’s house. “The entire apartment was ransacked. The piano, drawers and shelves of the closet were broken. We still don’t know what they took out of the house and what they “found”, she noted.
According to Mehdiyeva, Ulviya Ali was subjected to violence during her arrest.
The journalist also posted about the arrests on her personal Facebook page*.
“If you are reading this article, it means that I was slandered and suddenly arrested for my journalistic activities. It should be noted that, like my other fellow journalists, I have not committed any crimes – I have not brought what they call “illegal finances” into the country, and I have not committed any other crimes,” she wrote. “I also do not have any working ties with Meydan TV. Even if I had such ties, cooperation with Meydan TV would not be possible. It should also be noted that I have been cooperating with the Voice of America for a long time.”
In January, journalist Ulviya Ali was interrogated as a witness in Meydan TV cases, after which she was banned from leaving Azerbaijan. The hearing of her complaints began on March 18 in the Khatai District Court of Baku, but the judge, citing the need for a police investigator to participate in the process, postponed the hearings. Ultimately, the Baku court did not satisfy the journalists’ complaints. Ulviya Ali became the 11th journalist detained in the “Meydan TV case,” according to its website.