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Georgian journalist seeks asylum in Azerbaijan

11 January 2012 12:28 (UTC +04:00)

He said that he faced persecution by the Georgian authorities due to his professional activity: â€œThe threats were sounded against me when I started to write the articles about the Georgian law-enforcement bodies, especially the state of the judicial system. I was arrested in 2009 with charges of abuse of office because I didnâ€™t leave my activityâ€.

According to him he was fined and set free as it was impossible to prove the charges against him. Lazareishvili said that all Georgian judicial instances refused his complaints and he has recently addressed the European Court on Human Rights: â€œEverything started after it and the threats and menaces against me were intolerable. They demanded me to recall my complaintâ€.

Lazareishvili noted that he left his homeland for Azerbaijan and seeks asylum here: â€œAzerbaijan is our neighboring country. Thatâ€™s why I decided to seek asylum hereâ€.

Georgian embassy in Azerbaijan told APA that they didnâ€™t know a person by the name of Lazo Lazareishvili and his claims were incorrect: â€œGeorgia is a democratic country and nobody is persecuted for the professional activityâ€.