02:37, 9 April 2021

Azeri journalist, Afghan Mukhtarly, criticize inquiry into his kidnapping in Georgia

Afghan Mukhtarly. Screenshot of the video by MeydanTV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LtzU1NONvU

During five years, the Georgia General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) has made no progress in the investigation of his kidnapping in five years, the Azerbaijani journalist, Afghan Mukhtarly, who arrived in Tbilisi to testify, has stated. He is sure that he was kidnapped with the consent of Georgian authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in May 2017, Afghan Mukhtarly, who had emigrated to Georgia, was forcibly brought to Baku. In January 2018, the court sentenced him to six years in prison on charges of illegal border crossing, smuggling and resistance to a state servant. However, on March 17, 2020, the court commuted Mukhtarly's sentence; he was released and came to Germany where his relatives live.

In October 2020, Mukhtarly was going to testify at the Georgian GPO, but couldn't get into the country. He believes that the authorities are afraid of exposing the circumstances of his kidnapping.

Now, for the first time after the kidnapping, Afghan Mukhtarly managed to come to Georgia, where the investigation entitled "Illegal deprivation of liberty" is still underway.

He has expressed outrage at the words of Irakli Kobakhidze, a former Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, who said in the fall of 2020 that the aim of Afghan's visit to Georgia was to destabilize the pre-election situation in the country.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 8, 2021 at 09:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.