Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadiqov, arrested in Georgia in August at Baku’s request, has been transferred to a prison medical facility due to his deteriorating health following a hunger strike that began on September 21, his wife, Sevinc Sadiqova, told RFE/RL on October 8.
Sadiqov, who ran the news outlet Azel.TV, has been arrested multiple times in Baku since 2016 and served over a year in prison on what rights groups called politically motivated charges.
The news of Sadiqov's failing health comes as Human Rights Watch accused Azerbaijani authorities of using "politically motivated, bogus criminal charges" to prosecute and imprison civic activists, journalists, and human rights defenders just months before it hosts COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
In a 74-page report, the rights watchdog documented what it calls "the government’s concerted efforts to decimate civil society and silence its critics."
“The Azerbaijani government’s contempt for civic freedoms is putting independent groups and critical media on the path of extinction,” said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“This is not the image the government should be projecting of itself on the eve of COP29. It is not too late for the government to improve its reputation by freeing imprisoned critics and immediately ending the use of spurious charges against civil society, but it needs to act now.”
Released in May 2023 after a pardon, Sadiqov fled to Georgia in December, where he was arrested again in August, accused by Azerbaijani authorities of extortion.
Amnesty International has called on Georgia to halt his extradition, warning that he could face torture or death if returned to Azerbaijan. A decision on his extradition is still pending in a Georgian court, while his health remains a growing concern.
Last week, a letter signed by nearly 60 lawmakers in the U.S. Congress urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to press Azerbaijan "for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, hostages, and POWs, including ethnic Armenians, to enable a more conducive environment for successful diplomacy at COP29."