BAKU, AZERBAIJAN: A lawyer for an independent Azerbaijani journalist says his client has been abducted from Georgia, where he had been living, and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan.

A court in this former Soviet republic is due to hold a hearing on Wednesday to arrest Afgan Mukhtarli, who is facing charges of smuggling and crossing the border illegally.

Mukhtarli, who is also a civil rights activist, had been living in neighboring Georgia for three years. His lawyer Elchin Sadigov told The Associated Press the journalist was abducted outside his home Tuesday evening, beaten up and taken to the land border between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sadigov claimed that the journalist's captors planted 10,000 euros ($11,180) on him, which led to the charges.

Georgian officials have not commented on the case.