Georgia/Azerbaijan: Arbitrary detention of journalist Afgan Sadigov in Azerbaijan following his arbitrary arrest and expulsion from Georgia

GEO 002 / 0726 / OBS 36

Arbitrary arrest / Arbitrary detention / Transnational repression / Restrictions to freedom of expression

Georgia/Azerbaijan

23 July 2026

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr Afgan Sadigov in Azerbaijan, following his previous arbitrary arrest and expulsion from Georgia to Azerbaijan in April 2026. Mr Afgan Sadigov is the founder and editor of the regional online media platform Azel.tv, known for its critical reporting on the Azerbaijani government. Azel.tv’s YouTube channel features video reports on local corruption, government misconduct, and citizens’ grievances regarding social injustice.

On 8 June 2026, Mr Sadigov’s wife, Sevinch Sadigova, stated that her husband had been detained by several masked persons dressed in civilian clothes in Azerbaijan. On the same day, Mr Sadigov’s lawyer reported that Mr Sadigov had been taken to the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan, and that he had been presented to a court hearing, at which he was ordered to stay in pre-trial detention until 30 July 2026.

This arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr Sadigov in Azerbaijan followed his arbitrary arrest and expulsion from Georgia to Azerbaijan on 4 April 2026, after nearly two years of judicial and administrative proceedings in both countries.

In August 2023, Mr Sadigov was accused of extorsion under Articles 182.2.2 and 182.2.4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On 3 August 2024, Georgian law enforcement officers first detained Mr Sadigov for the purpose of extradition to Azerbaijan. Despite no concrete evidence against Mr Sadigov, Georgian courts accepted Azerbaijan’s request to expel Mr Sadigov and proceeded to allow his extradition.

In January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued binding interim measures prohibiting Mr Sadigov’s expulsion to Azerbaijan, where he was facing criminal proceedings (see below). On 1 April 2026, the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan declared this criminal investigation to be officially terminated and informed Georgian authorities about their decision to discontinue the criminal proceedings against Mr Sadigov, which was followed by an order by the Georgian Ministry of Justice to terminate the expulsion procedures. On that basis, the Georgian government argued that Mr Sadigov was no longer at risk of transfer to Azerbaijan and that there was therefore insufficient factual basis for alleged violations of Articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 6 (right to a fair trial), and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

On 3 April 2026, the Tbilisi City Court approved a motion by the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to annul the bail, the ban on leaving the country and other interim measures applied against Mr Sadigov. Nonetheless, in the late evening of 4 April 2026, dozens of officers from the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs and emergency response units arrived at Mr Sadigov’s residential apartment in Tbilisi and arrested him on alleged administrative grounds following, on the basis of statements that  allegedly constituted an “insult of a law enforcement officer” under Article 173(2) of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offences.

Following the arrest, Mr Sadigov was subject to a late-night court hearing before the Tbilisi City Court. Even though Georgian authorities were informed of Mr Sadigov’s chosen legal representatives, the Tbilisi City Court appointed him a public lawyer from the Legal Aid Service. On 5 April 2026, Georgian Judge Tornike Kochkiani found him guilty, fined him with 2,000 lari (approximately 743 Euros) and ordered Mr Sadigov’s expulsion to Azerbaijan and a prohibition to enter Georgia for three years. The decision was immediately implemented, and he was expelled through the Georgian-Azerbaijan land border. Upon crossing into Azerbaijan, he was reportedly questioned by the Azerbaijani Migration Service.

On 6 April 2026, Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, conducted a visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, which raises concerns on whether this process may have been coordinated at a high political level, with the purpose to punish and expel Mr Sadigov back to Azerbaijan, where he might be subjected to further politically motivated persecution.

On 10 April 2026, the European Court of Human Rights sent a request to both parties – the applicant, as well as the governments of Georgia and Azerbaijan – to submit additional observations. In particular, the Court raised a new question as to whether, despite the existence of an interim measure, the applicant’s transfer to Azerbaijan constituted a violation of Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On 30 June 2026, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, addressed a letter requesting clarifications regarding the criminal proceedings against Afgan Sadigov, while reiterating his call for the immediate release of all human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society activists detained solely for their legitimate work or for expressing dissenting or critical views.

Prior to these developments, Mr Sadigov had been held in expulsion detention for a period of nine months. Throughout this time, none of the instances of the Georgian judiciary suspended or halted the expulsion proceedings, notwithstanding substantiated concerns regarding a real risk of political persecution, as well as torture and other forms of ill-treatment in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, at all judicial levels, the Georgian courts rejected the requests for international protection submitted by Mr Sadigov and his legal representatives. During his detention, Mr Sadigov undertook a 161-day hunger strike, which resulted in a severely deteriorated and life-threatening health condition.

Following his release, Mr Sadigov joined the ongoing continuous protests in Tbilisi, and it was in this context that he was subsequently subjected to administrative detention on two occasions and was fined 55 times under restrictive legislative provisions adopted in Georgia concerning freedom of assembly.

The Observatory notes that Mr Sadigov’s expulsion from Georgia, carried out in violation of the interim measures imposed by the ECtHR, constitutes a demonstrative breach of the ECtHR’s decision and of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the principle of non-refoulement and the right to a fair trial.

The Observatory further notes that cooperation between Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities to arbitrarily detain and extradite Mr Sadigov in reprisal for his legitimate human rights and journalistic activities constitutes an act of transnational repression.

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of Mr Sadigov in Azerbaijan and his previous arbitrary arrest and expulsion by the Georgian authorities and calls on Azerbaijan and Georgia to uphold their human rights obligations, including its duty to protect exiled human rights defenders from transnational repression.