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.
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.
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