Georgia, Tbilisi, 15 February / Trend corr N. Kirtskhalia / The Georgian public defender (Ombudsman) Sozar Subari applied to the Prosecutor General of Georgia and urged to suspend extradition of the Azerbaijani citizen Azer Samadov. "Samadov is a human rights activist, therefore he cannot be given to Azerbaijan," the Ombudsman Administration reported on 15 February.
In 2003, Samadov was engaged in monitoring the presidential elections. According to the Georgian Ombudsman Administration, as he was divulging the violations made during the elections and was pursued by the authorities, Samadov immigrated to Georgia and established there the NGO Caucasus Centre for Protection of Faith and Conscience.
The Georgian Interior Defence Ministry's employees detained Samadov on 31 March 2006 to extradite him to Azerbaijan. But later, by the decision of the Tbilisi court he was released on the bail of 10,000 laris.
On 17 August 2006, the Georgian Ministry on Refugees and Settling deprived Samadov of the refugee status. In November 2007, the UN High Commissariat for Refugees returned him the status.
According to Ombudsman Sozar Subari, in case of extradition, Samadov may face tortures or danger for life. International conventions prohibit extradition in this case.
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