Afghan Mukhtarly demands meeting with Georgian ambassador

Baku / 07.06.17 / Turan: The lawyer Elchin Sadigov posted on his Facebook page a statement by journalist Afgan Mukhtarly. "Afghan Mukhtarly does not want to be a citizen of a state kidnapping people. He asks to find and punish those who participated in his kidnapping," the lawyer writes after meeting June 7 with the juralist in the Baku jail.

Mukhtarly believes that the government of Georgia should present to the public records from video surveillance cameras in the place where he was kidnapped, and the streets by which he was being transported.

"Recordings from the video-meters of the border checkpoint in Lagodekhi district of Georgia should also be made public. In this case, it will be confirmed that Mukhtarly was handed over by the special services of Georgia to the special services of Azerbaijan," the lawyer writes.

He also informed Mukhtarli's request that he be visited by the Georgian Ambassador to Azerbaijan and answer the journalist's questions.

Mukhtarly disappeared in Georgia on May 29, and the next day he was in Baku, where he was accused of breaking the border, smuggling, violence against the border guard and was arrested.

Mukhtarly denied the charges and said that he was kidnapped in Georgia and handed over to the Azerbaijani authorities.

Colleagues of Mukhtarly are convinced that he is being persecuted for political reasons for investigating corruption in the highest echelons of power, as well as facts of human rights violations.

The US and the EU called for the investigation of reports of kdnapping, and demanded the release of Mukhtarli. 16d-