Azerbaijani journalist wins lawsuit against Georgia and Azerbaijan

A lawsuit against Georgia and Azerbaijan was filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The applicant is Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli. The court found his arguments convincing and found violations by both states.

Thus, the ECHR found that Georgia violated Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article 5 (right to liberty and security of person) of the European Convention on Human Rights due to the failure to conduct an effective investigation into the applicant's allegations of abduction, ill-treatment and illegal transfer to Azerbaijan. As for Articles 3 and 5, the court did not find a "substantial violation" (regarding ill-treatment and detention).

On the part of Azerbaijan, the ECHR found violations of two articles of the Convention, namely 5 (3) (right to liberty and security of person) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life).

According to the court decision, the Georgian authorities must pay Afgan Mukhtarli 12,500 euros, and the Azerbaijani authorities 8,500 euros in compensation for non-material damages, legal costs and expenses.

Mukhtarli fled from Azerbaijan to Georgia in 2015, fearing for his safety due to corruption investigations into the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

On May 29, 2017, he was kidnapped in central Tbilisi, tied up, beaten and forced into a car, and then sent to Azerbaijan. There, he was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of illegally crossing the state border, smuggling and resisting a government official. Under pressure from the international community, the journalist was released in March 2020.

The arrested former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia, Soso Gogashvili, testified that Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped and handed over to Azerbaijan on the orders of the founder of Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

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