No:021/21, Information of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani citizens Elmikhan Bagirov and Aliaga Babayev, imprisoned in the State of Libya, returned home on January 21 of this year.
In March 2016, a ship belonging to a company registered in the Republic of Türkiye and sailing under the Sierra Leone flag was detained by Libyan coastguards while moving in the direction of Libya-Malta-Türkiye, and the ship's crew of 12 people, including 3 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was arrested for 5 years for smuggling oil products. Unfortunately, the sailor of the ship Elshad Huseynov died in Libya.
As a result of the measures taken by the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with the return of our citizens who are in custody to the country - the captain of the ship Elmikhan Bagirov and the sailor Aliaga Babayev, by the decision of the General Prosecutor's Office of Libya dated December 29, 2020, were released from custody and placed in the temporary detention center.
As a result of the necessary measures taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Istanbul for the emergency evacuation of our citizens, Elmikhan Bagirov and Aliaga Babayev were able to return home on January 21, 2021 on a flight Tripoli-Istanbul-Baku. The evacuation was carried out with the assistance of the Republic of Türkiye and the State of Libya, the coordination activities of Ukraine and the support of the shipping company.