Click to expand Image Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov detained in Tbilisi, Georgia, 2024. © 2024 RFE/RL Azerbaijani authorities’ renewed detention of exiled journalist Afgan Sadigov raises serious concerns about transnational repression and the apparent manipulation of legal procedures across borders to silence a government critic. Several masked men in civilian clothing detained Sadigov in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku on June 8, according to Sadigov’s family and lawyer. Later that day, a court ordered him to be held in pretrial detention until July 30.Sadigov, editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani media outlet Azel.TV, was arrested in Georgia in August 2024 on the basis of a dubious Azerbaijani extradition request alleging extortion but providing no credible evidence linking him to the alleged offenses.Despite these deficiencies, Georgian courts approved his extradition, and so Sadigov applied to the European Court of Human Rights to halt his removal on the grounds that his rights would be violated in Azerbaijan. The court issued an interim measure suspending his transfer, and Georgia temporarily complied. What followed next has all the hallmarks of cynical manipulation of legal procedures for political purposes. First, on April 1, 2026, Azerbaijani authorities formally terminated the criminal prosecution that formed the basis for the extradition request. Then, Georgian courts lifted restrictions on Sadigov, only for the Georgian authorities to detain him on an administrative charge on April 4 and rapidly deport him to Azerbaijan, despite the European Court’s interim measure.Following his return, Azerbaijani authorities repeatedly detained Sadigov, claiming that the criminal case against him had not yet been fully removed from official databases. On May 26, authorities prevented him from leaving the country when he tried to and told him that the case remained active, despite documentation showing that it had been closed. Sadigov’s lawyer said an Azerbaijani court had instructed the case be reopened at the request of the alleged victim and that prosecutors continue the investigation, leading to Sadigov’s detention on June 8. The sequence of events—Azerbaijani authorities terminating the case to facilitate Sadigov’s removal from Georgia, then reviving the case to arrest him again—illustrate how legal and administrative measures can be misused to target exiled critics.Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release Sadigov, drop the politically motivated charges against him, and allow him to travel freely. Georgian authorities should explain the circumstances surrounding his deportation and their failure to comply with the European Court’s binding interim measure.