On 17 July 2024 Azerbaijani journalist, founder and editor of webportal Azel.tv(https://azel.tv/), Afgan Sadygov (Əfqan Sadıqov), was allegedly stopped by Georgian border guards at Tbilisi International Airport in Tbilisi / Tifilis (თბილისი / ტფილისი), Georgia (საქართველო), while attempting to travel to Ankara, Türkiye / Turkey.
Sadygov stated that border officials informed him he could only fly to Azerbaijan, citing issues with his travel document and advised him to seek clarification from Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to some voices the officials are trying to force Sadigov to return to Baku, where they will be arrested.
Azel.tv is a online news agency that covers also corruption and other topics that are not covered by main media in Azerbaijan. The web site was temporarily unavailable in the past years for several times. This webpage has also a You Tube channel.
Sadygov, who has been living in Georgia since last year, attributes this incident to his critical posts and videos about the Azerbaijani government. The journalist moved to Georgia initially for medical reasons but decided to stay due to threats and the ongoing arrests of Azerbaijani journalists.
Sadygov’s arrest history in Azerbaijan includes a 2020 conviction for extortion, which led to a seven-year prison sentence, later in 2021 reduced to four years. He was released in May 2022 after receiving a presidential pardon. During his imprisonment, Sadygov staged a long hunger strike in protest of his charges. The case started after the public prosecutor of Azerbaijan accused Sadygov and one other reporter of extorting a bribe from an official in exchange for not publishing compromising documents in the media.
This incident is not isolated, as other Azerbaijani journalists have faced similar challenges in Georgia. The increased pressure on Azerbaijani journalists in Georgia raises significant concerns about their safety. Georgian authorities have yet to provide a detailed explanation for these actions. In January 2023, journalist Seymour Hazi (Seymur Həzi) was denied entry into Georgia without explanation. In July 2021, blogger Huseyn Bakikhanov (Hüseyn Bakıxanov) died under suspicious circumstances in Tbilisi, Georgia. In 2017, journalist Afgan Mukhtarli (Əfqan Muxtarlı) was allegedly kidnapped from Georgia and taken to Azerbaijan, where he was sentenced to six years in prison. Mukhtarli later claimed that the Georgian government had colluded with Azerbaijani authorities in his abduction.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the alleged incident involving Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov. SEEMO is deeply concerned about this restriction of freedom of movement of Sadygov and about problems that other Azerbaijani journalists had. SEEMO will be closely monitoring the situation and urges the authorities to ensure that journalists can operate without fear of retribution or unlawful restrictions.
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.
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