Georgia refused to grant asylum to an activist from Azerbaijan

The Georgian Migration Department refused to grant political asylum to Azerbaijani activist Avtandil Mammadov, and the Tbilisi City Court confirmed this decision. This was reported to by Mammadov himself.

According to him, before moving to Georgia in 2017, he was engaged in public and human rights activities, fearing persecution, he left Azerbaijan.

After the abduction of journalist Afghan Mukhtarly in Tbilisi in 2014, he applied for political asylum at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Department of Migration of Georgia.

In 2019, the Department refused him, stating that there were no threats to him in Azerbaijan. “This is despite the fact that a criminal case was opened against me in Azerbaijan, and I was put on the wanted list by Interpol. I appealed to the court and the case was returned for reconsideration by the Migration Department, which repeatedly refused, and the Tbilisi court did not satisfy the complaint,” Mammadov said.

His passport has expired and he cannot travel to third countries, but only return to Azerbaijan, where he will be arrested.  Mammadov intends to file an appeal and the lawyers of the human rights organization “Rights of Georgia” are helping him in this.

If the Court of Appeal rejects the complaint, he will have to leave Georgia within 10 days, or he will be deported.

In Azerbaijan, Mammadov worked on human rights issues in the northern region, and also participated in election monitoring. After emigrating to Georgia, he was engaged in human rights activities, heads the Institute for the Protection of Rights and Freedoms created by Political Emigrants.

At the request of Azerbaijan, he was detained in Georgia in 2019, but later released.