“If you are reading this note it is because I have been unjustly jailed for my journalism work. Like my other journalist colleagues, I have committed no crime,” wrote Ulviyya Guliyeva (known as Ulviyya Ali) in a note she wanted to be shared in the event of her arrest.
Last week, Guliyeva became the 25th reporter Azerbaijani authorities have jailed on bogus charges during the past 18 months as they seek to silence critical voices. She is the 11th journalist jailed in connection with an investigation that the government launched against Azerbaijan’s largest exile-based independent media outlet Meydan TV, whose entire newsroom staff has been held in pretrial detention since December 2024.
Authorities had imposed a travel ban on Guliyeva in January 2025, after she was questioned as part of the Meydan TV investigation. In her statement, Guliyeva denied working for Meydan TV while stating that even if she had, this would not constitute a crime.
Known for her independent reporting, Guliyeva was Voice of America’s (VOA) Azerbaijan correspondent until February 2025, when Azerbaijani authorities revoked VOA’s accreditation. Her latest reporting was from the court hearings of Tofig Yagublu, a veteran opposition politician who was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in March 2025, and of journalists from Abzas Media, another prominent and now exiled independent news outlet.
Earlier this month, police searched and ransacked Guliyeva’s flat and claimed to have found money which they said she had smuggled into the country. Later, during interrogation, she was allegedly struck in the head several times by police and threatened with sexual violence to coerce her into handing over her mobile device’s password.
According to her family, shortly after her interrogation, Guliyeva began to vomit repeatedly. She has requested a full medical checkup, including an MRI scan to determine if she has sustained any internal injury, which would require her transfer to a facility with the necessary medical equipment and personnel. The request was pending at the time of this writing.
The authorities claim Guliyeva colluded with Meydan TV reporters to smuggle the money allegedly found in her apartment into Azerbaijan. Guliyeva denies the accusations and a Meydan TV representative has confirmed Guliyeva did not work for the outlet. Nearly all the reporters arrested since November 2023 face similar bogus smuggling charges.
Other freelance journalists arrested in connection with the Meydan TV case include Fatima Movlamli, Nurlan Libre, and Shamshad Aghayev.
Azerbaijani authorities may think that by arresting more journalists who report the facts, they can intimidate journalists and create a pliant media. But all they’ve done is show how much they fear the facts.