The European Court of Human Rights found a procedural violation of Articles 3 (prohibition of ill-treatment) and 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention by the state of Georgia in the case of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli. The court determined that a proper investigation was not conducted into Mukhtarli's credible allegations of abduction from Tbilisi, ill-treatment, and illegal transfer to Azerbaijan. However, the court did not establish a substantial violation of the mentioned articles.
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“In such circumstances, having reviewed the available case material, the Court finds it impossible to establish with sufficient certainty the actual events that led to the applicant’s disappearance from Tbilisi and reappearance in Azerbaijan. This difficulty stems, in particular, from the failure of the relevant Georgian authorities to conduct an effective and diligent investigation (see paragraphs 157-169 above). In the light of the foregoing, the Court cannot reach a conclusion “beyond reasonable doubt” that the applicant was abducted, ill-treated and forcibly transferred to Azerbaijan with the involvement (either active or passive) or acquiescence of the Georgian authorities,” the court explains in its judgment.
Afgan Mukhtarli filed a complaint against Georgia and Azerbaijan. The case involved the abduction of the journalist from Tbilisi in 2017, his ill-treatment, and his covert transfer from Georgia to Azerbaijan, where he was subsequently arrested. Mukhtarli claimed that these actions were intended to silence him and punish him for his journalistic work.
The court found a violation of Article 5, Section 3, and Article 8 in relation to Azerbaijan. This means that the Azerbaijani court could not justify the necessity of Mukhtarli’s pretrial detention. Additionally, investigative agencies violated his right to privacy by searching his mobile phone without court authorization.
According to the court's decision, the government of Georgia is to pay 10,000 euros to Afgan Mukhtarli as compensation for moral damage, while the government of Azerbaijan is to pay 6000 euros. Furthermore, to address the legal obligations of both states, it was ordered that Mukhtarli be paid an additional 2,500 euros by each government.
Afgan Mukhtarli’s lawyer, Archil Chopikashvili, stated today that the state of Georgia was doing everything possible to avoid investigating the case, a fact confirmed by the European Court’s decision.
"Even today, it remains unclear how this person ended up in Azerbaijan from Baratashvili Street in the center of Tbilisi, especially considering that video cameras immediately respond to both serious and administrative offenses. The European Court found that the state failed to fulfill its positive obligation to conduct an effective and thorough investigation. The government did everything to ensure that the Strasbourg court found only a procedural violation and that no substantive decision could be made," Chopikashvili said.
Afgan Mukhtarli, who had lived in Georgia since 2015, disappeared from the center of Tbilisi on May 29, 2017. The following day, he was found in a police cell in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, Mukhtarli was accused of illegally crossing the border, smuggling a large amount of foreign currency, and disobeying the police. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was released in March 2020. He currently resides in Germany. After Mukhtarli's arrest, Ioseb Gogashvili, the former first deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia, announced in 2022 that Mukhtarli was kidnapped by “SSS zonders" on the orders of Bidzina Ivanishvili.
