Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli claims that high-ranking Georgian officials are linked to his abduction, Georgia Online reported.

According to the journalist, the crime was led by Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

As Afgan Mukhtarli said, he was approached by three men, while another one was sitting in the car. They grabbed him, put in the car and pulled a sack over his head. Later, the journalist was bandaged with a rag.

Mukhtarli claims that he crossed the border in the neutral zone between the two countries near Lagodekhi cheakpoint.

The Georgian authorities did not find the legal grounds for his detention, so they decided to abduct and hand him over to Azerbaijan, Mukhtarli stated.

As reported earlier, Afgan Mukhtarli was abducted in Tbilisi in May 2017.  Mukhtarli appeared the next day in Azerbaijan and was accused of illegal border crossing, smuggling and resisting police. On January 12, 2018, a journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment.