AZERBAIJAN / Kidnapped May 29, 2017
“You can arrest or kill us, but others will continue the struggle. Our goal is not to overthrow Ilham Aliyev, but to give people hope.”
Afgan Mukhtarli is a well-known investigative journalist and political activist based in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he had been living in exile to avoid persecution in Azerbaijan. Afgan has contributed to RFE/RL Azeri Service, Meydan TV, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Eurasianet.org. Prior to his imprisonment, Afgan was investigating the offshore business of top Azerbaijani officials in Georgia. On May 29, 2017, he was kidnapped in Tbilisi and forcefully taken to Baku where he was put in prison. He is facing fabricated charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing, as well as violently resisting a law enforcement official.