Rights defenders call on Georgian authorities to investigate Afghan Mukhtarly's kidnapping

23 international public organizations have addressed a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili with the demand to call on the Georgian government to carry out a complete investigation in connection with the journalist Afghan Mukhtarly's case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Afghan Mukhtarly disappeared in Tbilisi on May 29. On the other day, he phoned advocate Nemat Kerimli and informed him that he had been brought to Baku. According to Afghan Mukhtarly, he was beaten during the kidnapping. The journalist was accused of violating the state border, smuggling, and resisting a border guard, and he was arrested for three months. Afghan Mukhtarly rejects the charges filed against him.

According to the authors of the letter, dated June 6 and published on June 7 on the website of the NGO "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB), the journalist's kidnapping is an "alarming precedent" that threatens the security of dozens of Azerbaijanis who have taken refuge in Georgia.

In their appeal to Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the NGOs note that the kidnapping with the illegal deportation of Afghan Mukhtarly after his application for asylum in Georgia is a "clear violation of international law."

"The prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is stipulated by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in which Georgia is a state party. And Article 3 unequivocally assumes the duty of each state member not to expel, extradite or deport a person to a state where he or she faces actual risk to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Therefore, the Georgia's responsibility is to guarantee the safety of Azerbaijanis residing on its territory," the human rights defenders believe.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.