09:37, 30 May 2019

Tbilisi: protesters demand to release journalist Afghan Mukhtarly

Afghan Mukhtarly. A poster at the protest action in support of the Azerbaijani journalist https://www.irfs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/afgan-mukhtarli.jpg

At the rally in Tbilisi, Azerbaijani activists have supported Afghan Mukhtarly. There is some fault of Georgian authorities in the fate of the journalist, who was convicted in Azerbaijan, protesters have claimed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 30, 2017, Afghan Mukhtarly, an Azerbaijani oppositional journalist, who emigrated to Georgia in 2014, reported that he had been forcibly delivered to Baku. On January 12, 2018, the court sentenced him to six years in prison on charges of illegally crossing the border, smuggling and resisting a power official. In April 2019, Mukhtarly complained about the deterioration of his health in jail.

The aim of the protest rally was to draw attention to Mukhtarly's case, said Ilkin Rustamzade, an activist of the "Nida" Movement.

"We call on the authorities of Georgia and Azerbaijan to put an end to the lawlessness committed jointly by them against Afghan and demand his liberation," the "Contact.az" quotes Mr Rustamzade as saying.

Authorities were informed about the kidnapping of Mukhtarly, which was committed in parallel with Azerbaijan's investment of two billion US dollars into Georgia, said Bairam Mamedov, one of the protesters.

On April 10, 2019, Mamuka Bakhtadze, the Georgian Premier, said his country was cooperating with Azerbaijan in the case of Mukhtarly's kidnapping. However, in the opinion of Zibeida Sadygova, an advocate, this is not confirmed by the actions of the Georgian party.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 30, 2019 at 06:31 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.