Ulviya Quliyeva (born in 1993), better known as "Ulviya Ali", has been actively involved in
socio-political life in Azerbaijan since the age of 17. Since 2016, Ulviyya Quliyeva has been
active in the field of journalism. Over the years, she has collaborated with several prominent
media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Azerbaijani Service,
Toplum TV, Fakt Yoxla, Mikroskop Media, OC Media and JAMnews.

Since 2019, she worked with the Azerbaijani Service of Voice of America. Her work often
focused on politically sensitive topics such as political trials, human rights violations, protests,
rallies, and civil disobedience actions. During her journalistic activities, she faced multiple
instances of detention, police obstruction, and ill-treatment.

In February 2025, after Voice of America journalist's accreditations in Azerbaijan were revoked,
Ulviya Quliyeva publicly stated that she would continue her work independently, even without
institutional support. Since then, she had been sharing her reports via her personal Facebook
page, maintaining her journalistic presence despite increasing restrictions.

On 16 January 2025, Ulviya Quliyeva was interrogated about the Meydan TV case at the Baku
City Main Police Department for almost two hours. She made the statement that she was not a
journalist of Meydan TV, but a correspondent of "Voice of America". Nevertheless, without any
explanation she was prohibited to leave the country. Ulviya Quliyeva immediately filed a
complaint to the Court concerning the prohibition, but on 11 April, 2025, the Baku City Khatai
District Court dismissed her complaint.

Ulviya Quliyeva understood that she would soon be arrested and wrote a letter stating the
probability of being arrested:
“If you are reading this article, it means I have been slandered and unlawfully arrested
for my journalistic work. Like my fellow journalists, I have committed no crime - I did
not bring into the country what they are calling ‘illegal funding,’ nor have I committed
any other offence. I also have no business ties to Meydan TV. And even if I did,
cooperating with Meydan TV is not a crime. I should also note that I have long
collaborated with Voice of America.

Following her arrest on the night of 7 May 2025, Ulviya Quliyeva sent a letter from jail in
which she described the manner of her arrest:
“On 6 May, I was filming court hearings for the cases of Tofiq Yaqublu and Abzas
Media, then shared the information on my profile.

Late at night, around midnight on 6 May, as I was entering my apartment building, a
man approached me. That day, after the Abzas Media hearing, I stopped at a café to rest
a bit and noticed someone watching me from a window – a man in civilian clothes was
following me from across the street.

The man who approached me at the entrance asked, “Ulviyya?” I already understood
that my turn had come – they had come to detain me too.

Seven police officers entered the building, along with me and the investigator Alibala
Hajiyev.

When I reached the door, I inserted the key. I was relieved – my roommate was home
and had locked the door from the inside. Without wasting time, I shouted, “I’ve been
detained, tell someone!” At that moment, the same large police officer covered my
mouth with his big hand.

For a moment, I felt like I was suffocating – his palm was so large it covered my nose
as well.

…We went to the bedroom. They turned my things upside down. From my room, they
took a memory card from a camera, a flash drive, and a laptop.

…Then we returned to the living room. Investigator Alibala Hajiev began entering the
seized items into the protocol. I was surprised and thought, “Could it be that they didn’t
plant money in my house?!” So, ironically, I said, “You aren’t going to plant money,
are you?”

While my roommate, the witnesses, five police officers, and I were in the living room,
two officers – one in plain clothes, one in uniform – stayed near my bedroom. I asked
the investigator, “What are they doing there?” The investigator replied, “The protocol
is already drawn up; their presence in the next room doesn’t matter.”

Suddenly, a 40–45-year-old officer who barely took part in the search said, “We didn’t
look on top of the cabinet in the bedroom.”

We went back to the bedroom, and they began pulling things down from the top of the
cabinet. From the top pocket of my suitcase, which I hadn’t opened or even looked at
since January 4 this year, they pulled out a bundle of money. They handed me the money
and asked, “Whose money is this?” I didn’t touch it and laughed loudly: “You know
better since you planted it.”

…In the protocol, I noted that the search in my home took place without my lawyer
present, the door should have been locked, but police kept coming in and out, the
investigator counted the money without gloves, the large police officer used violence
by covering my mouth, and so on.

Thereafter, Quliyeva was taken to the Baku City Police Department, where she was severely
beaten for having refused to surrender her phone and computer passwords. She was repeatedly
punched on the head, then they began pulling up her hair, tearing them apart.

“Seeing that I didn’t give in, one policeman said, “Bring the taser.” Something was
brought and placed on the table. When I refused again, the thin policeman said, “I will
violate your woman’s honor.” Those words made my heart sink”.

The police openly threatened to rape her if she did not reveal the passwords. But she refused to
do it. At some point, she got sick. Once she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and
periodically suffered from severe headaches, nausea and vomiting. The police stopped the
torture as soon as she got sick after the severe beatings.

The next day, after being transferred to the Khatai Temporary Detention Facility, a man in
plainclothes claiming to be from the Interior Ministry visited Quliyev, again asking for her
passwords.

‘He said, “Give the Telegram password”. I again refused and said, “Leave me alone.

Call my lawyer”. He didn’t. Instead, he threatened me: “You’re an Azerbaijani woman
— don’t act crazy. Don’t make me talk to you another way. Let’s be able to greet each
other civilly if we meet again”. He lunged at me. There was nothing sensitive in my
Telegram — I don’t even keep messages generally. So, I didn’t resist further and gave
it. But I want everyone to know: in the space of 24 hours, I was threatened with rape
twice by Azerbaijani police’, Quliyeva wrote.

Aitaj Taptiq, a Meydan TV employee, who was also under arrest, wrote in her letter sent from
the prison on 10 May, 2025, that Ulviya Guliyeva's life was in danger:
"The journalist Ulviya Ali (Quliyeva) was subjected to the police assault at the Baku
Police Headquarter; she sustained numerous blows to different parts of her head, twice
lost consciousness in the temporary detention center, and once in Kyurdakhani. She is
complaining about severe headaches".