Mukhtarli: Georgian Airlines, consulate preventing me from flying to Georgia

Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was supposed to fly from Germany to Georgia on October 9, says that Georgian Airlines and the Georgian consulate are preventing him from flying to the country.

“At Shenfeld airport, Georgian Airlines and the Georgian consulate create problems – according to them my documents are not in order – this is not true,” the journalist writes on his Facebook page.

Afgan Mukhtarli was going to testify to the Georgian prosecutor’s office in the case of his abduction in Tbilisi in 2017.

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“Apparently, they knew about my arrival and are trying to stop me. My documents meet the requirements on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.  I filled out the form and got the go-ahead!”

“It’s my right to live in Azerbaijan” – journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, a former prisoner of conscience, told JAMnews about his plans for the future

Afgan Mukhtarli: “I was told that the Georgian authorities received a bribe for my abduction”

“The government of Ivanishvili are cowards.  They are afraid of my coming, as it will reveal their crimes.  They will not be able to hide what they have done and will answer for all the crimes, ”the journalist writes.

The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office says that Mukhtarli has already been questioned in this case in Germany.

 The Prosecutor’s Office told Interpressnews agency, “based on the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the relevant services of Germany interrogated Afgan Mukhtarli on July 24, 2020 in the current case.  The interrogation protocol and relevant materials were transferred from Germany to the Georgian prosecutor’s office on October 1, 2020 and attached to the criminal case.  The investigation of the criminal case continues.”

Afgan Mukhtarli, who had been in political emigration in Georgia with his family since 2015 from pressure from the Azerbaijani authorities, disappeared in Tbilisi on May 29, 2017.

 The next day,  Mukhtarli appeared in Baku and was accused of illegally crossing the border, smuggling and resisting the police.  

The journalist himself then stated that he was abducted in the center of Tbilisi.  He was later sentenced to six years in prison.

On March 17, 2020, Mukhtarli was unexpectedly released from prison and immediately sent to Germany.  He was not even allowed to meet with his relatives in Azerbaijan.  The journalist himself says that the authorities only changed the punishment – they changed the prison to a link from the country.