International Watchdogs Urge Georgian Government Against Extradition of Critical Azerbaijani Journalist
International watchdogs, the Amnesty International and the IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media urged the Georgian authorities against the extradition of critical Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov to Azerbaijan. Sadigov was arrested in Tbilisi on August 3.
“The Georgian authorities should immediately cease attempts to extradite Afgan Sadigov – based on their obligations under international law and as required by the principle of non-refoulement – and provide him and his wife with international protection if they have applied for it. There can be little doubt that his extradition to Azerbaijan would expose him to a significant risk of serious human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary deprivation of liberty and unfair trial. Sadigov’s case is the continuation of the trend of the eradication of independent media in Azerbaijan, which has now intensified in the run-up to COP 29,” Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia noted.
The Amnesty International urges the Azerbaijani government “to stop politically motivated prosecutions of journalists and other government critics, and to immediately release all those imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”
The IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media demands Sadigov’s “immediate release” from the extradition detention and urges the Georgian authorities “not to extradite” him to Azerbaijan and “to allow him to leave Georgia.”
Around couple of weeks before his detention in Georgia, Sadigov was denied permission to leave Tbilisi international airport for Turkey and was told by border control officials that he could only fly to Azerbaijan.
The journalist has been reportedly living in Georgia since last December. Sadigov was arrested in Azerbaijan in May 2020 on charges of extortion. He was later sentenced to seven years in prison, which was eventually reduced to four years by the Supreme Court. However, he was released by amnesty after about two years in prison. He went on hunger strike for 242 days in prison.
