After the foreign agent’s law the United States of America now criticized the arrest of Azerbaijani Journalist Afgan Sagigive by Georgia. The USA has also called Georgia to immediately release the journalist who was arrested by Georgian law enforcement agencies over his critical approach to Azerbaijani authorities.
The State Department of the USA called upon Georgia on Tuesday for the release of the Azerbaijani Journalist. The law enforcers arrested the Azerbaijani Journalist Afgan Sadigov on August 3, 2024. He is now facing the process of the expected extradition to Azerbaijan according to DC Correspondent Alex Raufoglu.
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said “The arrest of Afgan Sadygov is very disturbing as he has been detained in the Capital city of Georgia, Tbilisi. We would like to strangely urge the Georgian authorities to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and this can be ensured by releasing him expeditiously.
The State Department Spokesperson, speaking further on the development stated ” The arrest has been affected as the government of Azerbaijan has launched an organized crackdown on members of civil society and we also urged Azerbaijan to immediately release all individuals who are unjustly detained, They authorities are also targeting the authored living outside the borders.”
The journalist was detained at the Tbilisi airport when he was about to board a flight to a third country. After detention he was told he could not fly to any third country except Azerbaijan. He has been living in Georgia’s capital since December 2023. He was arrested in Azerbaijan in May 2020 on charges of extortion.
The court of Azerbaijan pronounced the seven-year jail term, later reduced to four years by the country’s supreme court. It was interesting to see that he was released from jail only after two years of jail term.
He went on a hunger strike for 242 days in prison for the fulfillment of these demands. The USA last time criticized Georgia for the foreign agent law and demanded the repeal of the law.
