Blossoming US-Azerbaijani relationship collides with fate of two imprisoned journalists

The relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan, tense during former President Joe Biden’s administration, has blossomed over the past year, but the detention of two journalists who worked with U.S. outlets remains a significant source of tension.Azerbaijan has been gripped by high-profile criminal cases involving employees of media outlets critical of the government over the past three years, the biggest of which involve the independent outlets Meydan TV and Abzas Media. In both cases, the charges leveled against the defendants aren’t political — the charges brought against the seven defendants in the Abzas Media case are currency smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery, while the 12 defendants in the Meydan TV case were charged with similar smuggling and financial crimes. However, their defenders have decried the prosecutions as based entirely on their journalistic work.Of the 19 defendants being prosecuted in similar cases, two have earned the attention of Washington due to their work with U.S. outlets: Ulviyya Guliyeva, 32, and Farid Mehralizada, 31. Guliyeva, also known as Ulviyya Ali, is an Azerbaijani freelance reporter whose work since 2012 has focused on human rights and corruption in the country. She frequently worked with the U.S. outlet Voice of America, producing more than 1,000 news stories and reports for the outlet from 2019 to 2025. She was arrested at her Baku home on May 7, 2025, on charges of smuggling by a group, carrying a potential eight-year sentence. Guliyeva has been adamant that she is innocent of the charges and is being targeted over her journalistic activities.Mehralizada, an economist and reporter with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijan Service, was detained on May 30, 2024, initially on charges of conspiring to smuggle foreign currency, and later on charges of illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion, and document forgery.The pair’s detentions and alleged mistreatment while in custody have created a united front of advocacy from a coalition of groups in the U.S., advocacy that has intensified in recent months. The effort began with a small working group in December 2025, which featured current and former employees of VOA and RFE/RL, as well as the Virginia-based MediaSafe, run by journalist-safety consultant Eric Phillips.The effort has gradually become more public, as the group continues to lobby nongovernmental organizations, Congress, and the White House.“Our mission here is to demonstrate that the entire U.S. government, that we’re aware of, potentially the vice president’s office, and definitely the State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and definitely prominent folks on Capitol Hill, both the House and Senate … Voice of America and [U.S. Agency for Global Media] are are all united in trying to get these journalists, [Guliyeva] and [Mehralizada], out of this horrible situation,” Voice of America deputy director Chris Wallace told the Washington Examiner in an interview.The USAGM is the parent agency that manages VOA and RFE/RL, with VOA serving technically as a federal entity and RFE/RL being a grantee. VOA and RFE/RL are both independent entities with no direct access to government agencies.Phillips was in agreement with Wallace’s description, saying the independent working group was working “in very close coordination and communication” with VOA.“We are all in lockstep,” Phillips said. “We are all moving forward with the same interests. So there shouldn’t be any assumption that there’s two different groups doing two different things.”The working group has also helped to push through strategies to boost the chances of freeing the two journalists. According to an internal VOA document, both Guliyeva and Mehralizada have agreed to leave the country if released, a move favored by the working group.One of Wallace’s big hopes was that the U.N. General Assembly would provide the perfect opportunity for U.S. officials to broach the subject with Azerbaijani officials.“I know for a fact that either of us, but especially the USAGM CEO, who happens to also be the deputy secretary of state, would be open to discussing this with the Azerbaijanis here at the U.N. General Assembly,” Wallace said.Backing up Wallace’s description of the situation, in a statement to the Washington Examiner, acting USAGM CEO Michael Rigas said VOA is “engaging every available diplomatic, legislative, interagency and advocacy resource to secure the immediate release of detained journalists in Azerbaijan and elsewhere, including former VOA contributor Ulviyya Ali and RFE journalist Farid Mehralizada.”“Securing the freedom of unjustly imprisoned journalists and defending press freedom worldwide are top priorities for VOA and USAGM, and we are working tirelessly with international partners, human rights organizations and the U.S. government toward that goal,” Rigas added.The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department for comment.The two cases have also drawn the concerns of pro-Azerbaijan figures in the U.S. A source familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner that the co-chairmen of the House Azerbaijan Caucus, Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Robert Aderholt (R-AL), wrote a letter to Azerbaijani Ambassador to the U.S. Khazar Ibrahim last month, asking for his engagement on the matter and expressing their concerns.The Washington Examiner reached out to Cohen’s and Aderholt’s offices for comment.The White House, which has prioritized boosting its relationship with Azerbaijan, has reportedly taken note of the issue, too. Vice President JD Vance reportedly raised the issue of the two detained journalists during his trip to Baku earlier this year.Despite the engagement from several different angles, so far, there have not been many positive indicators from Baku.“Absolute silence,” Phillips said when asked what Baku’s response to the matter has been.The Washington Examiner reached out to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice with a list of questions and requests for comment.While Baku has not given a direct answer to past public inquiries about Guliyeva and Mehralizada, it elaborated on its logic in past comments responding to criticism of prosecutions of journalists.In response to a January 2024 message from European Union Ambassador to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko, in which he said he was “appalled by the reports of denigrating treatment of some of the journalists recently arrested,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada called his comments “both groundless and irresponsible.”“Interference in the judiciary of Azerbaijan that was built on best international practices is unacceptable,” he said.Past statements questioning the legitimacy of certain cases are usually met with statements of confidence in the country’s judicial system.Attempts to get Azerbaijan’s executive to intervene in the judiciary over political concerns have failed in the past. One of the central issues that held up a lasting peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was the detention and trials of the Armenian leaders of the separatist state of Nagorno-Karabakh, who were arrested after the fall of the enclave in 2023 and sent to Baku to stand trial on terrorism charges. While Armenian officials and mediators sought pardons for the leaders, Baku has remained adamant that it would be a miscarriage of justice to intervene in the trials.Aside from simply the detentions of Mehralizada and Guliyeva, concerns have been directed at the circumstances of their arrests and conditions in captivity. Guliyeva claimed she was beaten during her arrest, had her apartment ransacked, and that authorities placed over $7,500 as evidence of her alleged crimes. Her stay in pretrial detention has been repeatedly extended, something her supporters claim is meant to keep her from speaking in a trial.Guliyeva claims she has been subjected to physical and psychological abuse while in detention, including beatings, hair pulling, and threats of sexual violence. She also suffers from several health problems, including a head adenoma, and she claims medical care has been denied to her while in detention, worsening her condition.Mehralizada has made many of the same allegations of abuse, but his day in court came much quicker, ultimately leading to a nine-year prison sentence. His extended time in custody resulted in his missing the birth of his only child.“For more than two years, our colleague Farid Mehralizada has languished in a prison cell, held on false charges and unjustly separated from his wife and baby,” acting RFE/RL President and CEO Lisa Curtis told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “Farid is being punished for his work as a journalist. Azerbaijani authorities must release him and allow him to return to his family.”ONE YEAR ON, US-BROKERED PEACE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN CEMENTS US FOOTHOLD IN THE CAUCASUSGuliyeva finally got the opportunity to speak in court on Sept. 15, during which she read a lengthy statement, personally accusing Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of ordering her arrest, going through the facts of her case in detail, and drawing parallels between her own persecution and the Dreyfuss Affair and George Orwell’s 1984.Despite her barbs against the president, VOA’s internal document on the matter said it’s “widely believed” that Aliyev would order the duo’s release in exchange for political considerations.