Georgia should immediately investigate illegal transfer of Azerbaijani journalist to Baku, South Caucasus Director at Human Rights Watch Georgia Gogia said calling to free Afgan Mukhtarli.

Azerbaijani journalist and political activist Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped in Tbilisi on May 29 and resurfaces in custody in Baku on May 30. Mukhtarli said people speaking Goergian put a bag over his head and beat him.

“Georgian authorities should immediately investigate, including into whether Georhian authorities were complicit in illegal transferring Mukhtarly across the border or whether they actively participated in his kidnapping. Azerbaijan has an appalling record of politically motivated prosecutions of government critics. Human Rights Watch is extremely concerned about Mukhtarly’s safety. Azerbaijani authorities should immediately free him,” Gogia said.