Afgan Sadigov Free in Baku but Faces ‘Uncertainty’ After Deportation From Georgia

Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov, who was detained and deported from Georgia overnight on April 4-5, is in Baku, free from custody, but in “complete uncertainty” amid concerns he could face prosecution in Azerbaijan again, his lawyer Tamta Mikeladze of the Social Justice Center, a Georgian human rights group, said.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the journalist was deported based on migration laws that allow for the expulsion of foreign nationals who commit a range of administrative offences, in this case, an alleged “insult of a police officer on social media.” Sadigov’s lawyers have disputed the legality of deportation, fearing the journalist faces “gravest risks” to his life and safety in Azerbaijan.

Mikeladze wrote on Facebook on the evening of April 5 that Sadigov is staying at his relatives’ house after “he was allowed to go home following an interrogation in Baku.” She warned, however, that Baku “may be planning to bring new charges against him in a few weeks or months,” adding, in reference to his abrupt deportation from Georgia, “After an operation of this scale, it is impossible to trust autocrats.”

In another Facebook post the same day, Mikeladze said that Sadigov is now “alone and plunged into complete uncertainty, surrounded by doubts and ambiguity, not knowing what the regime might do in a few weeks or months, what kind of case it might fabricate, or how he could be punished.”

“Azerbaijan’s intentions and goals regarding the journalist will become clear very soon, when he tries to leave the country and reunite with his family. This process will also be a test for me,” she added.

Sadigov, who had faced arrest and prosecution in Azerbaijan, has lived in Georgia since 2023 and spent over seven months in extradition detention following his arrest by Georgian authorities in August 2024. He was released on bail in April 2025, after the European Court of Human Rights issued an interim ruling barring his extradition to Azerbaijan.

Sadigov, who actively participated in anti-government protests in Georgia, was detained late at night on April 4, with authorities saying he had “insulted a police officer on social media.” Tbilisi City Court Judge Tornike Kochkiani delivered the verdict at 4 am on April 5, ordering his deportation from Georgia and a three-year reentry ban. The Interior Ministry argued that Baku’s recent move to terminate the criminal case against Sadigov ended the extradition process, implying that the ECtHR measure barring his extradition was no longer relevant – a position his lawyers dispute.

Sadigov’s abrupt detention and deportation came a day before Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Tbilisi.

Critics Condemn Deportation

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), a local human rights watchdog, said the expulsion of Sadigov constitutes “a grave and manipulative violation” of both the European Convention on Human Rights and Georgian law, “used as an instrument of political retaliation and exemplary punishment.” It argued that Georgia “effectively disregarded the interim measure of the Strasbourg Court and used expulsion to circumvent the prohibition on extradition formally.”

GYLA also stressed the disproportionality of the measures, noting that detaining and fining a person over a social media post, banning him from re-entering Georgia for three years, and deporting him “when it is known that he faces irreversible harm in his country of origin, may also amount to a violation of Article 18 of the European Convention” It added that the “Article 173 of [Georgia’s] the Code of Administrative Offenses was used as a formal basis to create an appearance of ‘legality’ for political persecution.”

A nine-party opposition alliance also condemned Sadigov’s detention and deportation, calling them “an act of personal revenge due to Sadigov’s critical stance toward Bidzina Ivanishvili.” The alliance expressed support for the journalist and called on “the international community to monitor this case to protect the journalist’s life and health.”

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