Afgan Mukhtarli, a journalist at Meydan TV (an internet-based independent Azeri-language media outlet) and a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigative journalist network has been working on exposing corruption in Azerbaijani Government and was investigating President Ilham Aliyev family’s ties with Georgian business associates.

In May 2017, when in Georgia, Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped by men in Georgian police uniform, who put a bag over his head, beat him and transported him across the border to Azerbaijan. Once at the border checkpoint, he was then arrested for crossing the border without a passport.

Mukhtarli's lawyer said that the journalist was further ill-treated in Azerbaijan and suffered from a broken nose, severe pains in the chest, probably caused by a fractured rib, and several bruises on his face.

Later that year, Baku court found him guilty of illegally crossing the border back into his native Azerbaijan, assaulting a border guard, and carrying 10,000 euro of undeclared currency and sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment.

In 2019, the journalist started a hunger strike protesting against ill-treatment of his lawyer by prison guards. He urged President to investigate the incident objectively.

In 2020, after having served 2 years in prison, Afgan Mukhtarli was released.