An independent Azerbaijani journalist has alleged that the Georgian authorities have barred him from leaving the country, unless he travels to Azerbaijan. 

Afgan Sadigov, the head of the independent Azerbaijani news outlet and YouTube channel Azel.TV, claimed on 17 July that Georgian border guards prevented him and his family from flying from Tbilisi to Antalya. According to Sadigov, he was told he could only return to Azerbaijan.

‘I couldn’t leave Georgia for a third country. I have two choices only: stay in Georgia or fly back to Azerbaijan’, he told OC Media on 19 July. 

‘My wife and two kids’ passports were checked, but when I gave my passport, the airport employee called the police. They did not explain anything to me and told me only to apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs if I wanted to know which agency had banned me’.

Sadigov has lived in Georgia since December 2023. 

Mariam Maghradze, a lawyer with human rights group Rights Georgia, informed OC Media on Monday that they planned to submit a request with the Interior Ministry to establish the legal justifications for preventing Sadigov from departing the country.

According to Maghradze, Sadigov was not given any document or notice after being stopped at the airport.

Mariam Kvelashvili, a lawyer at the Tbilisi-based Social Justice Centre, explained that there may be a number of potential legal grounds for banning a foreign citizen from departing for a third country. These would typically include their involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in their host country or country of origin, and a respective request for their extradition. 

Despite multiple enquiries by OC Media, Georgia's Interior Ministry declined to comment on the matter.

Previous arrests

Sadigov has previously faced prison sentences in Azerbaijan twice, alongside a number of administrative arrests, and has in the past been recognised by international organisations as a political prisoner.

In 2016, Sadigov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on charges of aggravated assault, with the sentence later reduced by a year. 

He was later arrested in 2019, on charges of extortion, and sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentence was reduced to four years after a presidential pardon in May 2022. 

Sadigov told OC Media that, after his release, he felt that he and his family were not safe in Azerbaijan. 

‘Living in Georgia was not easy for me, because here, at the same time, I felt someone following me, and many times I received threatening messages’, said Sadigov. 

Two days after Sadigov was reportedly prevented from leaving Georgia, the contents of the Azel.TV’s website were taken down, and appeared to have been replaced by news taken from Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry and state news agencies. Sadigov told OC Media that similar breaches of the website, with content taken down, had happened on a number of occasions. 

Azerbaijan’s government has since November 2023 intensified its pressure on independent media, arresting journalists and media workers associated with independent and government-critical outlets. 

At least 10 journalists currently remain imprisoned, in what is recognised by international rights and media organisations as political persecution. 

While many Azerbaijani journalists have sought safety outside the country’s borders, concerns have long been mounting about how safe they are in Georgia. Such concerns became particularly acute after an Azerbaijani journalist, Afgan Mukhtarli, who was based in Tbilisi, was kidnapped and delivered to Azerbaijan in 2017, allegedly by the Georgian authorities. 

Such fears have been further fueled by Georgia’s recent adoption of legislation widely perceived as targeting civil society groups, including independent media.

‘RSF is very concerned about the path chosen by the ruling [Georgian Dream] party, especially after the controversial law requiring registration as foreign agents for media and non-profit organisations’, Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), told OC Media on Tuesday. 

‘Georgia is moving further and further away from a satisfactory press freedom environment, and therefore from democracy’, Cavelier added, also noting reports of police violence against reporters. 

In RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index, Georgia ranked 103rd out of 180 countries, while Azerbaijan was at 164. Both had dropped in the rankings, with Georgia moving from ‘problematic’ to ‘difficult’ categories of press freedom.