Afghan Mukhtarly demands to bring the witness to justice on charges of kidnapping a person

Baku/28.12.17/Turan: The trial of the journalist Afgan Mukhtarly continued today in the Balaken District Court by hearing witnesses' testimony. On December 28, three witnesses were questioned at the trial, lawyer Nemat Kerimli told Turan. "Today witnesses Goshgar Muradov, Azer Bayramli and Dovlat Khanbabayev, employees of the border service, were heard. Mukhtarly recognized one of the witnesses. This man took Mukhtarly from his abductors in Georgia and called someone "coded message" - "the mall is with us, with him we are going to the wake". The journalist demanded that the Prosecutor General's Office be asked to bring this person to criminal liability on charges of kidnapping a person. However, the court did not grant the petition," said the lawyer.

Other witnesses said they had withdrawn money from Mukhtarly, but they could not say in what currency these funds were - dollars or euros. "Witnesses were not even able to describe what euros are, what signs are on it," said the lawyer.Mukhtarly again stated that the charges against him were falsified and politically motivated. The trial will continue on January 5.

The journalist Afgan Mukhtarly, who had permission for temporary residence in Georgia, was kidnapped in the center of Tbilisi on May 29, and then transferred to Azerbaijan. According to him, this was done by the employees of the criminal police of Georgia together with law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan.

The next day, Mukhtarly was in Baku, where the court arrested him on charges of three articles: 315 (resistance to the representative of the authorities), 318.1 (illegal border crossing) and 206.1 (smuggling). Mukhtarli is recognized as a political prisoner by local and international human rights defenders. Colleagues are convinced that he is being persecuted for his critical publications about corruption in Azerbaijan. -03B06-