Tbilisi court extends the arrest of Afghan Sadigov

On January 31, the Tbilisi City Court extended the arrest of Afghan Sadigov, the founder of the Azerbaijani website Azel TV, for another three months. According to Turan, Sadigov's wife, Sevinc Sadigova, reported that both Afghan and his lawyer from the Center for Social Justice learned about the court proceedings at the last moment.

The defense's request to release Afghan under house arrest or on bail by a group of Georgian journalists was not granted. At the same time, the European Court of Human Rights instructed the Georgian authorities not to extradite Sadigov to Azerbaijan until a final decision is made on the case.

Sevinc Sadigova stated that her husband has been on hunger strike for 133 days in the hospital of the Gldani detention facility. "In the past week, he has been given a liquid mixture, enriched with medications and vitamins, to prevent his blood sugar from dropping to a dangerous level and him falling into a coma. Earlier, he was given one portion of this liquid, but now they give him three at once."

Afghan has lost weight, now weighing only 54 kg, although before the hunger strike, he weighed 95 kg. "Today in court, he stated that he would refuse to take this liquid as a protest against the extension of his arrest," said Sevinc Sadigova.

* Afghan Sadigov arrived in Georgia with his family in December 2023, fearing persecution. In July, he was not allowed to leave Georgia for Türkiye, being told that he could only return to Azerbaijan.

In August, at the request of Azerbaijan, Sadigov was placed under arrest. He is accused in Baku of extortion, and his extradition is being requested. Since September 21, he has been on a hunger strike to protest his arrest and the refusal to grant him asylum.

Georgian authorities denied him political asylum. On November 28, 2024, the Tbilisi City Court decided to extradite him to Azerbaijan. On January 15, 2025, the Appellate Court upheld this decision.