On 4 August 2024, the City Court in Tbilisi (თბილისი), Georgia, sentenced Azerbaijani journalist Afqan Sadygov (Əfqan Sadıqov), editor-in-chief of Azel.tv (https://azel.tv/), to three months of extradition detention. Sadygov had been apprehended the previous day, on 3 August 2024 as he was walking in Tbilisi with his family. His arrest was carried out by Georgian police at the request of Azerbaijani authorities, who have accused him of threats and extortion.
Sadygov’s lawyer stated that his client was detained due to an Azerbaijani extradition request. He expressed concern that Sadygov’s life would be at risk if he were sent back to Azerbaijan, where he could face torture or other forms of inhumane treatment. Lawyer emphasized that Sadygov had not been formally summoned by Azerbaijani authorities and had not been informed of any criminal proceedings against him.
Sadygov, who has been living in Georgia since December 2023, had sought refuge in the country due to increasing repression of independent journalists in Azerbaijan. He had previously attempted to leave Georgia for Türkiye / Turkey on 17 July 2024 but was stopped at Tbilisi International Airport by border officials, who informed him that he could only travel to Azerbaijan. Following this incident, Sadygov and his wife applied to the French Embassy in Georgia, seeking assistance in relocating to a safer country.
This is not the first time that Azerbaijani journalists have faced peril in Georgia. Sadygov himself has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan before, serving time on charges of assault in 2016 and extortion in 2020, the latter of which resulted in a seven-year sentence that was later reduced after a presidential pardon. His case is emblematic of the broader crackdown on independent media in Azerbaijan, where numerous journalists have been jailed or forced into exile.
You can read previous SEEMO article about this case here: https://seemo.org/ressources/29-07-2024-azerbaijani-journalist-afgan-sadygov-denied-departure-from-tbilisi-georgia-airport/
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the detention of Azerbaijani journalist Afqan Sadygov in Georgia and expresses deep concern over the possibility of his extradition to Azerbaijan, where he faces the threat of torture, inhumane treatment, and a lack of a fair trial. Such actions are a blatant violation of human rights and freedom of the press. SEEMO calls on the Georgian authorities to uphold their international obligations for such cases by refusing his extradition and ensuring his safety. SEEMO will closely monitor this situation to ensure that justice and press freedom are upheld.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
#fyp #mediafreedom #seemo #freespeech #southeasteuropemediaorganisation #ngo #journalist #georgia #azerbaijan #azeltv #AfqanSadygov #journalistdetained #journalistarrested #SEEMO #journalistarrested #pressfreedom #mediafreedom #freemedia