The Tbilisi City Court has approved the prosecutor's office's motion to authorize the extradition of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov to Azerbaijan. The defense lawyers plan to appeal the decision of Judge Arsen Kalatozishvili to the Supreme Court.
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According to Keti Chutlashvili, a lawyer for the Center for Social Justice, the judge did not properly assess the evidence presented, which showed that if the journalist were handed over to Azerbaijani authorities, he would face persecution for his professional activities.
"The purpose of extradition in this case is solely to allow the Republic of Azerbaijan to punish Afgan Sadygov for his critical journalistic activities.
However, unfortunately the court did not properly consider the circumstances of the case, the assessments of international organizations, or the reports confirming that Afgan Sadygov has been persecuted by Azerbaijani authorities for years specifically because of his critical journalistic work. This persecution has been evident in his arbitrary detention, whether criminal or administrative," said Chutlashvili.
Judge Kalatozishvili's decision must be appealed to the Supreme Court within seven days. As Keti Chutlashvili explained, if the appeal is not upheld, the Minister of Justice has the authority to reject the court's decision and withhold the extradition order.
"Ivanishvili bought the court and unconditionally carried out Aliyev’s order. Afgan will not be the first person to be tortured to death in prison by dictator Aliyev. We hold Ivanishvili’s regime responsible for the events that have unfolded," said Sevinch Sadygova, the wife of the prisoner, after today's court hearing.
Afgan Sadygov, a critic of the Azerbaijani government and editor-in-chief of the online publication Azel.Tv, was arrested in Tbilisi on August 3 and subsequently placed in extradition detention. As per a statement of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sadygov was wanted in Azerbaijan on charges of threats and extortion. The case against him was opened in May 2024, while Sadygov had been living in Tbilisi with his wife and two minor daughters for several months.
"He is accused of extorting money from the deputy mayor of a specific administrative unit. Based on the case materials, Afgan Sadygov blackmailed him with a video showing the deputy mayor cutting a cake with an eight-pointed star and promoting the thieves' world. This video, still sought today, was uploaded to YouTube on July 31, 2023. It is illogical to accuse him of blackmailing the mayor in August 2023 when the video had already been made public. Moreover, it is completely unclear on what basis he was supposedly blackmailing the mayor, what material he possessed, or whether he had any communication with these individuals at all," Keti Chutlashvili told Georgian News.
After his arrest, Afgan Sadygov applied to the Georgian authorities for international protection; however, the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused, stating that his rights had not been violated in Azerbaijan. The court upheld the Migration Department’s decision.
Afgan Sadygov has been on a hunger strike for more than two months as a form of protest and is currently being held in a prison medical facility. His extradition detention period is set to expire on February 3, 2025.
Both local and international human rights organizations are calling on the Georgian authorities to reject Sadygov’s extradition to Azerbaijan. Amnesty International has stated that extradition would expose Afgan Sadygov to serious human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention, and violations of his right to a fair trial. The U.S. State Department also expressed concern following the journalist's arrest and called on the Georgian authorities to "immediately" release him.
