The wife of Ulvi Hasanli, the director of Abzas Media who was sentenced to nine years in prison, says unknown people entered the apartment where she lives.

Rubaba Guliyeva wrote on social media that the incidents took place on days when she was visiting Hasanli in prison.

“On 26 April and 10 May, while I was visiting Ulvi in prison, unknown people entered my home. On 10 May, this happened twice. I have camera footage related to this,” she said.

According to Guliyeva, the electricity supply to the apartment was deliberately cut when the people entered.

“Exactly on the days and at the hours when I went to meet Ulvi, the electricity in my apartment went off. As far as I know, in previous cases when police or State Security Service employees entered the homes of opposition figures, civil society representatives or media workers, they switched off the electricity from the building’s electrical panel to avoid security cameras. My home was entered in the same way,” she said.

Guliyeva said the building where she lives uses a “smart” electricity system, and that in the event of a technical problem the whole building should lose power.

“I have lived in this area since I was born, and in this building for more than 15 years. I know very well how the electricity goes off here. In 99% of cases, if there is a technical power cut, several nearby buildings and facilities on the same line lose power and regain it at the same time. That is why it seemed suspicious to me that recently the electricity in my apartment was being cut exactly during the hours when I was not at home, even though there was enough money on the balance.”

She said she first noticed the issue on 26 April, when she returned from prison.

“My family lives next door, in the same building. I called my mother and asked whether their electricity had also gone off. It had not. Then I asked several neighbours, and they also said their electricity had not gone off,” she said.

Guliyeva said that on 10 May she became certain that her home had been entered.

“The peephole on my door was open. I never leave it open. The camera footage shows that when I left home, the peephole was closed. When I returned, it was open. In addition, the slippers I wear at home had been moved,” she said.

According to her, the surveillance camera in the apartment runs on electricity and the internet, so it stops recording when the power is cut.

“After I became convinced on 10 May that someone had entered my home, I decided to review the earlier footage. In the footage from 26 April, those who entered the home even checked whether there was a memory card inside the camera, but they forgot to put the camera back exactly as it had been. As a result, the camera angle changed,” she said.

Guliyeva also said that items inside the apartment had been moved.

“I noticed that items in the home had been moved, even slightly, and that cupboards and the objects inside them had been searched. I am very attentive to details in this regard. I know very well what I put where and how. If any item is moved even by a millimetre, I notice it immediately,” she said.

She said she was the only person who had the key to the apartment and that no one else had access to it.

According to Guliyeva, her home was entered twice on 10 May.

“On 10 May, I called several friends and told them that someone had entered my home. But because I had to leave the house, I could not carry out a detailed search that day. During the hours when I was not at home, the apartment was entered again and the electricity was switched off again. I think that when they realised I knew someone had entered the apartment, they came back the same day either to remove what they had previously placed there, or to hide it better so that I would not be able to find the devices they had planted,” she said.

She added that she had used adhesive tape and glitter to detect any interference with the keyhole.

“The camera clearly shows that the shoes in front of the door had been moved aside and that my slippers had been worn, because they were no longer in their previous place. Before leaving the house, I had put adhesive tape over the keyhole and sprinkled glitter on it, so that I could see if there was any interference with the door. When I returned, I saw that the tape had been torn off, the glitter had spread around the keyhole, and there were fingerprints on the door,” she said.

Guliyeva also said she believed she was being followed.

“It seems they are watching me and know very well what time I go where. Otherwise, they could not have entered and left my home so easily,” she said.

She said she did not intend to file a complaint with law enforcement agencies.

“I do not intend to complain to any institution about this, because I have openly stated whom I suspect. If they want to prove otherwise, there is a police camera installed in front of my building. They should examine the footage from 10 May, from 10:30 to 15:30 in the morning and from 19:30 to midnight in the evening,” she said.

Guliyeva said she considered the entry into her home a threat to herself and her young daughter.

“I do not know why they entered my home or what they wanted to place there, but I consider this a threat to my daughter’s life and my own. Those who can enter my home so easily could also very easily poison the water we drink or the food we eat and harm us,” she said.

At the end of her post, she wrote:

“I openly state that if anything happens to my daughter or me from now on, at home or on the street, Ilham Aliyev will be responsible.”

Requests for comment were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service regarding Rubaba Guliyeva’s allegations, but no response had been received by the time of publication.

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Ulvi Hasanli was detained on 20 November 2023. Along with him, Abzas Media editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, project coordinator Mahammad Kekalov, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, journalists Elnara Gasimova and Nargiz Absalamova, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contributor and economist Farid Mehralizada were also arrested.

On 20 June, at a hearing of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes chaired by Judge Rasim Sadikhov, Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Abbasova Vagifgizi, Hafiz Babali and Farid Mehralizada were sentenced to nine years in prison. Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years, while Mahammad Kekalov was sentenced to seven years and six months.

The Baku Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

The journalists were charged under several articles, including smuggling and serious financial crimes. They deny the charges. Local and international human rights defenders say the criminal prosecution is linked to their journalistic work. 

In September 2025, Guliyeva was barred from leaving Azerbaijan to attend the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize ceremony in Strasbourg, where Hasanli was among the finalists. Border officials told her the Interior Ministry had imposed a travel ban, but did not explain which case the restriction was linked to.