BABAYEV v. GEORGIA

Published on 8 July 2024 FIFTH SECTIONApplication no. 56735/22Vugar BABAYEVagainst Georgialodged on 29 November 2022communicated on 19 June 2024 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASEThe application concerns the seizure of a sum of money which the applicant had declared to the customs officials and the ongoing criminal investigation into its provenance.On 16 October 2017 the applicant travelled to Georgia. Upon his arrival at the Tbilisi Airport the applicant submitted a customs declaration indicating that he had been carrying 350,000 United States Dollars in cash. He was searched immediately and the cash was seized by the customs authorities. A criminal investigation into money laundering appears to have been opened on the same day. According to the applicant, the Azerbaijani prosecution service informed their Georgian counterparts that the cash had been obtained legally.At the time the application …