OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media welcomes today’s release of journalist Afgan Mukhtarli in Azerbaijan

VIENNA, 17 March 2020 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed today the decision by the authorities in Azerbaijan to free independent journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was previously sentenced to six years imprisonment.

“I welcome the long awaited release of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli today. I intervened many times on his behalf to the authorities, expressed my serious concerns about his situation and called to drop the criminal charges and release him,” states Désir. “I am relieved that he can now reunite with his wife Leyla Mustafayeva and daughter in Germany, where he will join them.”

Mukhtarli, an independent investigative journalist, was abducted in Tbilisi in May 2017 and brought to Baku. He was convicted of "smuggling", "illegal crossing of the border" and "resisting an official representative".

Previous interventions by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media regarding Afgan Mukhtarli can be found here: https://www.osce.org/fom/366346;  www.osce.org/fom/363206 and www.osce.org/fom/347741