Afghan Mukhtarli: "My arrest was coordinated with the Georgian authorities"

Baku / 02.03.18 / Turan: A session on the case of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly continued in the Sheki Court of Appeal today. At the preliminary session of the court it was decided to consider the complaint with a partial judicial investigation. Mukhtarly himself testified today in court. He again announced his abduction in Tbilisi. Mukhtarli noted that this was agreed in advance between the Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities.

Baku persuaded Tbilisi that "this is a minor issue," but his kidnapping caused a great scandal and Georgia faced international pressure, and the country's president had to make a statement twice.

Mukhtarly believes that his arrest was directly sanctioned by President Ilham Aliyev because of journalistic investigations of the corruption of the ruling elite.

The meeting was supposed to be heard by the recognized Gafur Mammadov, who Mukhtarli allegedly struck at the illegal crossing of the border, but he did not appear in court. Therefore, the meeting was postponed to March 14.

It should be reminded that Afgan Mukhtarly was abducted by Georgian policemen on May 29, 2017 in the center of Tbilisi and sent across the border of Azerbaijan. The next day he was arrested on charges of smuggling 10,000 euros, resisting the border guard and illegally crossing the border. In January 2018, he was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. International and local human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner. -06B-