Tamar Oniani, Chairperson of the Young Lawyers’ Association of Georgia, commented on social media regarding the deportation of journalist Afgan Sadygov from Georgia to Azerbaijan.

Oniani stated that the rushed court hearing, initiated and conducted in a few hours late at night, sought to create a “formal-legal” illusion, which is contrary to the European Convention.

As she notes, no legal scheme aiming to bypass the European Court of Human Rights’ temporary measure or create an “illusion of legality” can justify Sadygov’s deportation.

“The European Court repeatedly emphasizes that the obligations under the Convention must not be illusory.

Accordingly, no legal mechanism aimed at circumventing the temporary measure issued by the Strasbourg Court and creating an ‘illusion of legality’ can justify the deportation of Afgan Sadygov to a place where the issuance of the measure itself indicated an ‘inevitable risk of irreparable harm.’

Issuing a temporary measure declares a real and imminent threat to life or a risk of torture/inhuman treatment. The State itself is obligated to assess this risk, regardless of whether the measure has been issued. This is a convention-based obligation, for whose breach the State is accountable.

Therefore, Georgia was already under the supervision of the Strasbourg Court regarding Afgan Sadygov’s case. The rushed, late-night court session, initiated in a few hours and ignoring this context and the standards of the Convention, precisely attempted to create the ‘formal-legal’ illusion that the European Convention prohibits,” Oniani wrote.

Recall that the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadygov administratively. According to the Ministry, he was arrested for insulting a police officer on social media. As a penalty, he was fined 2,000 GEL, deported from Georgia, and banned from entering the country for three years. According to his lawyer, the Tbilisi City Court decided to deport Sadygov to Azerbaijan at 4:00 a.m.

The investigative authority explained that Georgian officials had recently learned through official channels that the Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office had stopped criminal prosecution in the case, on which the European Court had issued a temporary measure. Accordingly, all extradition procedures in Georgia had been halted. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Internal Affairs states that the administrative offense committed by Sadygov, together with the fine, also implies deportation and a ban on entering the country. Consequently, Afgan Sadygov was deported to his country of origin and was prohibited from entering Georgia for three years.