Update: Afgan Sadigov Briefly Detained, Released Day After Deportation to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov, who was deported from Georgia on April 5, has reportedly been released after his wife reported his detention by police in Azerbaijan earlier on April 6. Tamta Mikeladze, his rights defender, confirmed the information about the release to several Georgian outlets.
“According to the information I just received, my husband, Afghan Sadigov, has been detained by the police, and I do not know exactly where he has been taken. Yesterday, he was deported from Georgia to Azerbaijan on what appears to have been a politically motivated order,” Sadigova wrote on Facebook on April 6, after initial reports that the journalist was free in Baku after deportation the day before.
Mikeladze, who had confirmed the detention, later said in a Facebook post that Sadigov was released after spending “about 40 minutes” at a police station, where he was taken from the street by officers who told him he was a wanted individual.
“At the scene, he was not informed of the reason for his transfer, and both he and his relative had the impression that he had been detained,” Mikeladze said, adding that “at the police station, it was clarified that he remained listed as wanted due to an old case, after which procedures were carried out to remove him from the list and conduct the necessary checks.”
“He is now at home, but even in this episode, it is clear what a reality of vulnerability and fear he lives in in Baku,” Mikeladze said.
The journalist 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 attributed the deportation to 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, 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.
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.
Sadigov’s lawyers and ruling party critics have disputed the legality of deportation, fearing the journalist faces “gravest risks” to his life and safety in Azerbaijan.
The deportation came a day before Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Georgia. Aliyev is reportedly scheduled to meet Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, among others.
Note: This news story has been updated several times with reports about Sadigov’s release.
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