NGOs, Media Call for Setting Up Investigative Commission over Mukhtarli Case
35 media and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) based in Georgia have called on Parliament to set up a special investigative Commission over the Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli Case, who was allegedly abducted from Georgia and taken to Baku in May, 2017.
The organizations have released a joint open letter, which reads that 9 months have passed since Mukhtarli was kidnaped and taken to Baku, adding that society and the non-governmental sector is unfamiliar with the investigation results launched in Tbilisi.
The letter reads that serious shortcomings that have been exposed in the course of the investigation, adding this significantly reduced public trust and expectations of an efficient investigation.
The organizations urged the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to ensure involvement of experts and investigators from partner countries (the United States and the EU member states), and also periodically provide the public with information about the investigation progress.
They also call on Parliament to summon Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia and all relevant high-rank officials, including Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze, in order to listen to their report over the case.
Mukhtarli is a political migrant who left Azerbaijan around four years ago. In Tbilisi, he held protests in front of the Azerbaijan Embassy and wrote about the persecution of Azerbaijani activists in Georgia. He disappeared on May 29, 2017, and the following day was “found” in the Baku police department, where he was accused of “illegal border crossing, smuggling and resistance or application of violence concerning the representative of authority.”
In January, 2018, Mukhtarli was sentenced to six years in prison by the Balakan District Court in Azerbaijan.
Last week the journalist was released from prison for 48 hours to visit the graves of his underage niece and nephew, who died just before the New Year.
In his brother’s house in an Azerbaijani village, Mukhtarli spoke to Georgia’s local Rustavi 2 TV and described the details of his abduction. He said the Georgian side was involved in his kidnapping, including Georgia’s Prime Minister.
He accuses both the Georgian and Azerbaijani sides of cooperation against him, and claims he is a political prisoner.
The journalist says the reason for his abduction and transfer is that he, like many other Azeri journalists, is in opposition to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Alyiev.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United States (US) Department of State also called for the release of Azeri journalist Afgan Mukhtarli last month.
By Thea Morrison