Azerbaijani journalist Mukhtarli, who vanished from Tbilisi in 2017, may return to Georgia to give testimony

Azerbaijani journalist Afghan Mukhtarli, who was released from Azerbaijani prison earlier this year and now lives in Germany, has plans to return to Georgia to testify to the country’s Prosecutor’s Office about his disappearance from Tbilisi back in 2017. 

Mukhtarli told Netgazeti that he has plans to come to Tbilisi soon, adding that he loves the country as it is his second homeland.

Mukhtarli and his family went into exile in Georgia in 2015 amid fears for their safety over Mukhtarli’s investigations into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s alleged links to corruption.

He was reported missing by his wife in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on the evening of May 29, 2017.

The next morning, on May 30, regional media reported that Mukhtarli ended up in the custody of the investigative unit of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan.

• Georgia says it investigates alleged “unlawful imprisonment” of Azerbaijani journalist

Since then Georgia had been investigating the case as an alleged ‘unlawful imprisonment’  of the journalist, who was charged with illegally crossing the border and smuggling in Azerbaijan.

Mukhtarli was sentenced to six years in prison but was released In March 2020. 

He has accused Georgia’s law enforcement agencies of helping Azerbaijan to ‘abduct him.’