Afghan Mukhtarli demands dismissal of Vakhtang Gomelauri and appeals to Prime Minister and Parliament
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, September 30, 2022
Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli submitted an appeal to the government administration and parliament asking for the resignation of Vakhtang Gomelauri.
The journalist is asking the Prime Minister to dismiss the Minister of Internal Affairs and appeals to the Parliament to force the head of government to dismiss Gomelauri.
According to Mukhtarli, Vakhtang Gomelauri has influence on the investigation of his abduction case.
Mukhtarli returned to Georgia after Soso Gogashvili, a former high-ranking official of the Security Service, issued a statement in which he said that Vakhtang Gomelauri carried out the plan to abduct Mukhtarli on the orders of Bidzina Ivanishvili and destroyed the material showing it.
Afghan Mukhtarli wanted to get acquainted with the testimony of Soso Gogashvili as a victim, but he was not given the opportunity to do so.
"I appeal to the Prime Minister and the Parliament of Georgia to dismiss the Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri from his position. As you know, Soso Gogashvili testified and said that my kidnapping was organized by Gomelauri. He is now in office and is pressing for an investigation.
I wanted to get acquainted with Gogashvili's testimony. The prosecutor's office told us there was no problem, but when I went with the lawyer, they refused. I believe that this was an order from the government.
In a democratic state, such a minister must resign from his post, and if he does not, the prime minister lets him go. I expected that this would happen in Georgia, the government would at least remove it for the show, but it didn't happen. By law, I have the right to see the materials of the investigation, but I am not allowed to do so. I think Gomelauri is preventing this," Mukhtarli told the media.
Former deputy head of State Security Service of Georgia, Soso Gogashvili stated that the kidnapping of Mukhtarli was the task of Bidzina Ivanishvili, which was carried out by the State Security Service, and that "Otto deleted" the video materials. He also mentioned in one of his statements that the cameras showing Mukhtarli's abduction were deleted before Lagodekhi.
Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli was abducted from the center of Tbilisi on the evening of May 29, 2017, and handed over to the Azerbaijani side through the Lagodekhi border checkpoint. In Azerbaijan, he was charged with illegal border crossing and smuggling. Afghan Mukhtarli said that he is a political prisoner and that the government of Azerbaijan was persecuting him as a journalist.
He also said that both the authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia were involved in the case of his abduction. Rallies in support of Afghan Mukhtarli were held at the Government Chancellery in Tbilisi. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison in Azerbaijan. After three years of imprisonment, the journalist was released on March 17, 2020, after which he went to Germany, where his family lived.
