The case of Mukhtarly shaking Georgian security forces

According to Internet portal contact.az, the heads of the border police and director of the counterintelligence department of Georgia were dismissed due to the disappearance of an opposition Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarly in Tbilisi, who was later arrested in Baku. Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Mgebrishvili said at a briefing that the personnel decisions were taken in order to avoid any suspicion in this case, which is being investigated in Georgia.

“The heads of services who are directly responsible for the control of the state border and for counterintelligence are released until the end of the investigation,” he said. Georgy Mgebrishvili stated that he was “sure of their innocence, but the investigation cannot exclude any versions, and once the border crossed under unclear circumstances, such decisions were made.”

Mukhtarly was abducted on June 29 in Tbilisi, tortured, and then forcibly transferred to Azerbaijan, where he was arrested on charges of illegally crossing the border, resisting the representative of the government with the use of force, as well as in smuggling (10,000 euros were planted in his pocket – articles 315.2, 318.1, 206.1). The European Court of Human Rights has accepted a complaint on the arrest of Mukhtarli for priority consideration, contact.az says.

On 20 July, 2017 Otar Kuprashvili resigned from the post of head of the Department for Combating Terrorism of the State Security Service of Georgia. The reason for the resignation of the head of such a significant structure is explained by the investigation of the strange disappearance in Georgia of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly, who was detained in Azerbaijan. Details of resignation are not disclosed.

At the same day in Georgia, in connection with the case of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly, the heads of the border police and the director of the counterintelligence department were temporarily suspended from their posts by the head of the Interior Ministry, Georgy Mgebrishvili.

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