Afgan Sadigov, the head of the YouTube channel AzelTV, was detained at his home in Tbilisi on 4 April.

In a statement, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said that proceedings had been launched against him under Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offences for allegedly insulting a police officer on social media. It said officers from the Tbilisi Police Department detained the journalist in order to bring him before a court and ensure the case was heard promptly.

At a hearing in the early hours of 5 April, Judge Tornike Kochiani found Mr Sadigov guilty of an administrative offence. The court ordered his expulsion to Azerbaijan, banned him from re-entering Georgia for three years, and fined him for 2,000 lari.

The Interior Ministry said Tbilisi City Court had taken into account the position of ministry representatives when making its decision. It said Mr Sadigov had previously been fined several times for various administrative offences and had twice served administrative detention. It added that information provided by Azerbaijani law enforcement authorities, as well as possible security concerns, had also been considered.

The ministry also said the Georgian side had been officially informed a few days earlier that Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor’s Office had used its discretionary powers to halt the criminal case for which the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had previously imposed an interim measure. As a result, extradition procedures in Georgia had also been terminated.

“Nevertheless, Sadigov committed an administrative offence and, for this offence, expulsion from Georgia and a ban on entry, in addition to a fine,” the ministry said. “In this case, the court applied those measures to the person held under administrative detention. As a result, Afgan Sadigov was expelled to his country of origin and banned from entering Georgia for three years.”

Mr Sadigov’s wife, Sevinc Sadigova, told Abzas Media that his detention and removal to Azerbaijan had been planned in advance.

“Georgia wanted to hand Afgan Sadigov over to Azerbaijan and was looking for an opportunity to do so,” she said. “On 1 April, a meeting was held between the Georgian and Azerbaijani prosecutors’ offices, and this was also reported in the media. After that meeting, the plan to hand Sadigov over was put into motion.”

According to Ms Sadigova, it later emerged during the process that there had been an official letter from the Azerbaijani embassy stating that Mr Sadigov’s passport had been deactivated.

“For that reason, it was impossible for him to travel to a third country. These steps were planned in advance. How could the embassy’s letter have been delivered late at night? The court ruling was also issued at night. The deactivation of the passport and the prior sending of an official letter show that the process had been prepared in advance,” she said.

She also said the Georgian side had not taken into account previous rulings by the European Court of Human Rights or arguments that Mr Sadigov’s life would be at risk. Ms Sadigova added that, under new legislation, it was not possible to appeal against the decision.

“Although an application was made to the European Court because the incident happened at the weekend, it was not possible to receive a response because it was not a working day and the deportation had already taken place. All these steps were calculated in advance. If Afgan Sadigov is sent to Azerbaijan, he will either be arrested immediately or the criminal case will be reactivated and he will be arrested shortly afterwards. Both possibilities are real,” she said.

Ms Sadigova said the lawyers had not been informed how the deportation process would be carried out. According to her, the lawyer had only said that Mr Sadigov could either be taken away by car or held for a certain period. The family, she said, received no official information about the process.

Speaking about the accusation against him, Ms Sadigova said Mr Sadigov had published a post about the police on Facebook on 1 April, but had received no prior warning in connection with the matter.

“There had previously been information that he had been held responsible 55 times, involving sums of around 85,000 euros, or roughly 100,000 dollars. But he had no knowledge of this, because he had not received any notification or letter,” she said.

She also said that people arrived at the journalist’s home late at night and forced their way in. Although a security camera at the entrance recorded some moments of the incident, the camera was later switched off.

“In the footage I watched, they said they had come from the gas service in order to enter the house. At that time, Afgan Sadigov was on a call with us, and when the door was opened, his phone was taken from his hand. An interpreter who spoke Azerbaijani had also been brought to the scene,” Ms Sadigova said.

She said she believed Mr Sadigov’s life was in danger and described what had happened as an act of retaliation.

“What has happened shows this. If there had been no such intention, they would not have prevented Sadigov from going to join his family. The current developments show that he will be arrested and that his life is in real danger,” she said.

Mr Sadigov moved to Georgia with his family in December 2023. On 3 August 2024, he was detained in Tbilisi at the request of Azerbaijani law enforcement authorities. Azerbaijan accused the journalist of extortion and sought his extradition. The Georgian authorities refused to grant him political asylum.

On 28 November 2024, Tbilisi City Court ruled that he should be extradited to Azerbaijan, although that decision was not enforced.

Mr Sadigov described the accusations as politically motivated and fabricated. On 16 April 2025, he was released on bail of 5,000 lari after about eight months in detention.

He was later detained several more times in Georgia under administrative procedures.