The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has partially fulfilled the proposal of the Public Defender of Georgia to recognize Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli as a victim and to transfer the investigation of the alleged crime committed by police officers to the Prosecutor's Office.

Afgan Mukhtarli went missing from the center of Tbilisi on May 29, 2017. The next day he was found on the territory of Azerbaijan, where he was arrested by Azerbaijani law enforcers and was charged for illegally crossing the border, smuggling a large amount of foreign currency and disobeying police. According to the journalist, he was kidnapped by individuals wearing uniforms of the Criminal Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, who were speaking the Georgian language, and was handed over to Azerbaijanis, who handcuffed and brutally beat him. In this regard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia launched an investigation under part 1 of Article 143 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, pertaining to illegal deprivation of liberty.

The Public Defender considered that the investigation of the offense allegedly committed by the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia by the same Ministry could not provide the degree of independence required for the effective investigation and on July 3, 2017, he addressed the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia to hand over the case to the investigators of the Prosecutor's Office.

In addition, according to the Public Defender’s recommendation, in order to ensure the enjoyment of procedural rights, Afgan Mukhtarli was to be granted the victim’s status.

On July 21, 2017, the Public Defender was informed by the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia that the case of Afgan Mukhtarli was handed over to the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor's Office. As for the issue of recognition of the journalist as a victim, the Prosecutor's Office explained that such decision would be made if there were grounds provided by the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia. The Public Defender does not agree with this opinion and believes that there are obvious prerequisites for granting the victim’s status to Afgan Mukhtarli. The Public Defender continues to watch the process and will periodically inform public of his assessments of certain aspects of the investigation.