Hafiz Babalı

Hafiz Babali is an investigative journalist with more than three decades of experience in independent media.

He began his journalism career in the early 1990s and has worked for Turan News Agency since 1997.

Babali is best known for his corruption investigations exposing wrongdoing by members of Azerbaijan’s political and business elite, as well as money laundering.

His investigations have been published by outlets including Radio Liberty, Meydan TV, and Abzas Media, and have been cited in international reports.

In 2019, he received the Free Media Award from Norway’s Fritt Ord Foundation for his reporting on corruption and financial crimes.

In June 2025, he was sentenced to nine years in prison in the “Abzas Media case,” which he has described as politically motivated.