Azerbaijani Journalist Detained in Georgia

Afgan Sadigov

The journalist Afgan Sadigov, whose extradition from Georgia was demanded by the authorities of Azerbaijan, has been detained in Tbilisi.

A. Sadigov stopped communicating on October 22, his wife Sevinj Sadigova reported.

According to his wife, the journalist planned to attend a protest rally near the Georgian Parliament on the evening of October 22. He left home to go to Rustaveli Avenue, where protesters have been gathering every evening for almost 11 months, and immediately after that, communication with him was lost. Sadigova suggested that her husband was detained by security forces.

Tamta Mikeladze, a representative of the human rights organization "Center for Social Justice," later received confirmation from the police that Afgan Sadigov was arrested administratively. She noted that "the patrol police twice did not confirm the fact of his detention to lawyers" and has still not reported the charges against Sadigov. It is known that the journalist never appeared at the protest rally he was heading to—after leaving home, he didn't even reach the metro station where activist acquaintances were waiting for him to go together to Rustaveli Avenue, Mikeladze stated.

Previously, on October 17, during the 324th consecutive day of protests in Georgia, the journalist Afgan Sadigov burned portraits of Bidzina Ivanishvili and Vladimir Putin during a rally on Rustaveli Avenue.

A. Sadigov was first detained in Georgia in August 2024 following an extradition request from Azerbaijan.

On February 28, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) prohibited Georgia from extraditing Sadigov to Azerbaijan until a decision was made on the merits of the case. On April 16, a court in Tbilisi released Sadigov on monetary bail, executing the ECHR ruling.