Elnara Gasimova

Elnara Gasimova

Age: 27

Occupation: Journalist

Arrested: January 13, 2024.

Charges:

  • Conspiring to smuggle foreign currency

  • Illegal entrepreneurship

  • Money laundering of a large sum by an organized group

  • Tax evasion

  • Document forgery

  • Use of forged documents

Status: Detained in Pre-trial Detention Center N1

Elnara Gasimova is a freelance journalist working for Abzas Media. 

Gasimova was first questioned as a witness in connection to the Abzas Media case in November 2023. On January 13, 2024, the Baku City Police Department summoned and detained Gasimova on charges of smuggling foreign currency. Initially, Gasimova was summoned as a witness in the ongoing Abzas Media court case. 

On January 15, 2024, the Khatai District Court in Baku remanded Gasimova in custody for two months and seventeen days. Gasimova was brought to and kept in the court handcuffed behind their back in the glass cage. 

Gasimova’s prison conditions raise concerns. The cell where the female detainees are kept at the pre-trial detention center of the Khatai District Police Department is surveilled by the prison authorities via CCTV cameras.

On March 7, 2024, the Khatai District Court extended Gasimova’s pre-trial detention for an additional three months. On July 3, 2024, the Khatai District Court reviewed motions on the transfer to house arrest of Abzas Media journalists. The court denied the motion and left Gasimova under pre-trial detention.

On August 16, 2024, authorities amended the indictment and brought new charges against Gasimova to include illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.

The Khatai District Court extended the pre-trial detention of Gasimova for an additional month and twenty-three days on September 6, 2024. As of September 10, 2024, authorities concluded the preliminary investigation. After her defense studies the case materials, it would be forwarded to court.

On December 17, 2024, the Baku Court of Serious Crimes began the criminal trial against Gasimova.

In February 2024, four AbzasMedia journalists, including Gasimova, refused to attend their trial, citing degrading prison conditions such as being transported in overcrowded vehicles and held in cold, smoke-filled basement rooms at the courthouse. Their lawyer, Elchin Sadygov, argued that these conditions are harmful for their health and violate the law.