Lawyer Afgan Mukhtarly Sues Tbilisi Prosecutor�s Office

Baku / 14.06.17 / Turan: The Georgian lawyers of the journalist Afgan Mukhtarli have sued the Tbilisi prosecutor's office. Turan was informed about this by the Georgian lawyer of the journalist Archil Chopikashvili. The complaint is connected with the fact that Afgan Mukhtarli and his wife were not represented as "injured".

"We appealed to the investigative bodies of Georgia and demanded that Afgan Mukhtarli and Leyla Mustafayeva be granted the status of "victims." This requirement is quite legal," said the lawyer, noting that the investigative authorities did not satisfy their demand.

For this reason, the lawyer sued the Tbilisi prosecutor's office. The court is asked to entrust the prosecutor"s office with a decision to grant Mukhtarli and his spouse the status of "victims".

The journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was abducted from Tbilisi on May 29 and was forcibly taken to Azerbaijan. He was charged under Article 315.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (resistance to a representative of the authorities). Subsequently, he was charged under two more articles of the Criminal Code: 318.1 and 206.1 (illegal border crossing and smuggling). Official Baku claims that Mukhtarli was detained on the Azerbaijani side in the illegal crossing of the state border. Moreover, during the detention the journalist resisted the officials, using force. The court authorized his pre-trial arrest for a period of 3 months.

Mukhtarli has lived in Georgia for more than two years, as he was persecuted in Azerbaijan. In recent years, Mukhtarli actively participated in actions against the authorities of Azerbaijan held in Tbilisi. -0-