Imprisoned Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli Demands Compensation from Georgia and Azerbaijan
By Messenger staff
Friday, April 5
Azerbaijani journalist, Afgan Mukhtarli, who was allegedly abducted from Georgia and taken to Baku in May 2017, demands compensation from Georgia and Azerbaijan.
“We are waiting for the decision of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the case,” Archil Chopikashvili, a lawyer of the Article 42 of the Constitution said.
Chpikashvili stated that communication of both countries - Georgia and Azerbaijan -with the Strasbourg court is over.
Now Afgan Mukhtarli and his lawyers are waiting for a decision of the European Court regarding the violations of articles in relation to the journalist.
“We request from the ECHR to establish the violation of rights and order the countries to pay financial compensation to the victim. In addition, Azerbaijan should be ordered to eliminate continuation of the violation”, the lawyer said.
Mukhtarli is a political migrant who left Azerbaijan around four years ago. In Tbilisi, he held protests in front of the Azerbaijan Embassy and wrote about the persecution of Azerbaijani activists in Georgia. He disappeared on May 29, 2017, and the following day was “found” in the Baku police department. He was accused of “illegal border crossing, smuggling, and resistance or application of violence concerning a representative of authority.”
In January 2018, Mukhtarli was sentenced to six years in prison by the Balakan District Court in Azerbaijan. The defense side appealed the decision but the court left Mukhtarli in prison.
The journalist claims he was abducted from Tbilisi for his investigations about top figures of Azerbaijan, their businesses in Georgia and connections with the Georgian government.
Mukhtarli’s wife, Leyla Mustafayeva, who is also an investigative journalist, stated that his husband’s verdict was part of a “joint deal” between the Georgian and Azerbaijani leadership.
The US President Donald Trump’s administration, the EU, OSCE, and other foreign organizations have demanded the release of the journalist.
The 2018 Freedom House report claimed Georgia’s judicial framework and independence had declined, due to the ‘illegal deportation of dissident Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli to Azerbaijan and a high-profile case in which a foreign company faced punitive fines after a deeply flawed judicial process’.
