“Both Georgia and Azerbaijan could have simply left him alone, but instead they planned a revenge operation and did everything to destroy one person. As of now, we do not know where Afgan Sadygov is or what fate awaits him in Azerbaijan. As soon as we obtain this information, we will share it,” wrote the lawyer of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov, Tamta Mikeladze, on social media.

According to her, “the case of Afgan Sadygov is the first time international law was openly and directly involved, and the Georgian state violated it.”

Mikeladze explained that the defense informed the European Court last night about this decision and requested the issuance of a new temporary measure for Georgia in this case.

“The European Court’s temporary measure remains in effect until the Court itself cancels it and confirms that there is no longer a risk to the person’s rights.

Therefore, the case of Afgan Sadygov is the first time international law was openly and directly involved, and the Georgian state violated it.

We informed the European Court last night about this decision and requested a new temporary measure for Georgia.

After his release from prison, Afgan Sadygov consistently wanted to leave Georgia. However, the court restricted his movement at the request of the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office. His family has political asylum in Europe, and his goal was to reunite with them.

The process of issuing a humanitarian visa had begun, but it was halted due to the travel restriction. In recent days, this process was expected to be accelerated after Azerbaijan withdrew its request for extradition.

However, the court ignored this and, simply because the Azerbaijani authorities had deactivated Sadygov’s passport (without explaining why it remained deactivated after the criminal case ended), he was expelled directly to Azerbaijan and was not allowed to leave voluntarily.

Both Georgia and Azerbaijan could have simply left him alone, but instead they planned a revenge operation and did everything to destroy one person.

At this moment, we do not know where Afgan Sadygov is or what fate awaits him in Azerbaijan. As soon as we learn more, we will provide updates.

I am certain that the response of the European Court and the Committee of Ministers in this case will be very strict,” the lawyer wrote.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov was administratively detained for insulting a police officer on social media. He was fined 2,000 GEL, expelled from Georgia, and banned from re-entering the country for three years.

According to his lawyer, the Tbilisi City Court made the decision to deport him to Azerbaijan at 4:00 a.m.

Investigative authorities said that a few days ago, through official sources, the Georgian side learned that the Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office had ended the criminal case for which the European Court of Human Rights had issued a temporary measure. Accordingly, all extradition procedures in Georgia were also stopped. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added that the administrative offense committed by Sadygov included expulsion from Georgia along with the fine and re-entry ban. Therefore, Afgan Sadygov was sent to his country of origin and banned from entering Georgia for three years.