Mohammed Kekalov Denied Call to His Lawyer

Mohammed Kekalov, a translator for Abzas Media convicted in a high-profile case, was denied the right to make a phone call to his lawyer at the Umbakı penitentiary complex.

According to Kekalov's relatives, he was not allowed to make a call on August 12. Prison staff reportedly snatched the phone receiver from his hands, telling him he could only make calls with permission from the head of the prison's security regime.

Five Abzas Media employees, including Director Ulvi Hasanli, Editor-in-Chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, translator Mohammed Kekalov, and reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova, along with Hafiz Babaly, head of the economics department at the Turan news agency and an investigative journalist, were arrested between November 2023 and January 2024 on charges of foreign currency smuggling. In June 2024, Farid Mehralizade, an economic columnist for the Azerbaijani service of "Radio Liberty," was also arrested in connection with the case.

Following the preliminary investigation in August 2024, the defendants were charged with six additional articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. They have rejected the charges, stating they are being persecuted for their investigative journalism.

On June 20, 2025, a court sentenced the journalists and staff of Abzas Media to lengthy prison terms. Director Ulvi Hasanli, Editor-in-Chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, and economist Farid Mehralizade each received 9 years in prison. Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to 8 years, while Mohammed Kekalov was given 6.5 years.

The Abzas Media case marked the beginning of a series of arrests of journalists from independent media outlets in Azerbaijan starting in November 2023. Several other criminal cases, including the mass arrests of staff from independent online resources like Toplum TV and Meydan TV, have since been initiated following a similar pattern.