'Inhumane treatment of Azerbaijani journalist in Tbilisi prison,' says Afghan Sadigov’s wife
Azerbaijani journalist in Georgian prison
Sevinj Sadigova, wife of Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Sadigov, who is under arrest in Georgia, stated on 24 March that her husband is being subjected to cruel treatment in pre-trial detention.
The Georgian Centre for Social Justice has stressed the importance of ensuring Sadigov receives adequate nutrition.
Officers from Georgia’s Criminal Police Department detained Sadigov on 3 August 2024 in the streets of Tbilisi, where he had been living in exile with his wife and daughter for several months.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry announced at the time that Sadigov was wanted by Azerbaijan “for crimes related to threats and extortion.” Georgian authorities planned to extradite him to Azerbaijan. In protest, Sadigov went on a hunger strike that lasted 161 days.
On 27 February 2025, the European Court of Human Rights ruled to ban Georgia from extraditing Afghan Sadigov to Azerbaijan. Despite this, he remains in custody, and his fate is still uncertain.
On 20 March, the Georgian Centre for Social Justice stated that “despite the European Court’s ruling, the Azerbaijani journalist is still being unlawfully detained for extradition purposes.” International organisations, including Amnesty International and the OSCE, have urged Georgia not to hand Sadigov over to Azerbaijan.
On 24 March, Sevinj Sadigova wrote on her Facebook page:
“Today my husband, Afghan Sadigov, called me from the detention centre. He was on hunger strike for 161 days and ended it on 28 February. It’s clear what someone’s health would be like after that. Afghan said that since 18 March, he’s been unable to eat anything except tea and water. The reason is that inmates are given spoiled food—people in Tbilisi prison are being subjected to inhumane treatment.”
The Georgian Centre for Social Justice, which is defending Afghan Sadigov’s rights, also emphasises the need to provide him with proper medical care, adequate nutrition, and less severe conditions of detention.
The Centre’s lawyers say the extradition decision remains in force despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Sadigov must not be handed over to Azerbaijan.
Tbilisi City Court and later the Court of Appeal argued that the ECHR ruling merely suspends the extradition but does not prohibit it.
“We believe the reasoning of both Tbilisi City Court and the Court of Appeal is entirely unfounded and contradicts both national and international law,” said the Centre. Its lawyers plan to continue defending Afghan Sadigov’s case to prevent his extradition to Azerbaijan and secure his release.
- ‘Azerbaijani authorities will resort to violence’ – activists comment on criminal cases against exiled bloggers
- Azerbaijan sees 26 more political prisoners in two months
- 149th year of national press in Azerbaijan marked by record number of arrested journalists
Context
According to Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Afghan Sadigov was arrested at Azerbaijan’s request. He is accused of crimes under Articles 188.2.2 and 182.2.4 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code: “extortion through intimidation, seizure of property in large amounts from an unidentified person, and threats to spread offensive information.”
Afghan Sadigov, head of the Azel.TV website, was previously arrested in Azerbaijan in May 2020 on charges of extorting money through threats. On 3 November 2020, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. The Court of Appeal later reduced the sentence to six years, and the Supreme Court further reduced it to four.
Sadigov went on a 242-day hunger strike in prison and was eventually released under a presidential pardon.
