IPI joins the partner organizations of the MFRR in calling on the authorities in Georgia not to extradite journalist Afgan Sadygov to Azerbaijan and to release him from extradition detention. Additionally, authorities should allow Sadygov to freely leave Georgia for a third country.
Georgian authorities arrested Sadygov on 3 August according to the journalist’s wife, who posted footage of him being escorted into a car by law enforcement. The following day, a court in Tbilisi ordered Sadygov to be held in extradition detention. Authorities in Azerbaijan have charged Sadygov with “threatening to spread offensive information” for extortion purposes. Sadygov has faced severe repression in Azerbaijan and was previously jailed in his home country.
Earlier, on 17 July, Sadygov was denied permission to leave Georgia, with border control officials saying that he could only return to Azerbaijan. Following the travel ban, Sadigov told Radio Tavisupleba, the Georgian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, that they had handed over a letter to the Embassy of France in Tbilisi stating that it was no longer safe for them to stay in Georgia, requesting assistance in relocating to a third country.
Sadygov has been living in Georgia since 24 December 2023. He initially traveled for medical reasons but decided to relocate to the country due to recent crackdowns on Azerbaijani journalists.
Sadygov had been arrested in Baku multiple times before, including in 2020 on charges of extortion, which resulted in a seven-year prison sentence. During a July 2021 appeal hearing, his sentence was reduced to four years. Eventually, he was pardoned by President Aliyev after spending about two years in prison, during which he went on a hunger strike which deteriorated his health. The website of Azel.tv has been suspended for prolonged periods of time.
Azerbaijani journalists have faced security risks in Georgia or have been denied entry on multiple occasions. On 12 January 2023, Azerbaijani opposition leader and journalist Seymour Hazi, an active critic of Ilham Aliyev, was denied entry into Georgia — border control refused him without explanation. On 14 July 2021, Azerbaijani opposition blogger Huseyn Bakikhanov died in Tbilisi under suspicious circumstances.
Another case demonstrating the extreme measures Azerbaijani authorities seem willing to take to retaliate against independent journalists in the one of Afgan Mukhtarli. In 2017, Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist and activist who found shelter in Georgia due to persecution in Azerbaijan, was kidnapped from the country’s capital, forcibly returned to Azerbaijan, and sentenced to six years in prison.
The MFRR partners urge the Georgian authorities to uphold international and European standards of freedom of expression and media freedom, and to set Sadygov free.
Signed:
International Press Institute (IPI)
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
