Coalition of 14 embassies demand Amaghlobeli’s immediate release

Coalition of 14 embassies demand Amaghlobeli’s immediate release

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Embassies of 14 member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) have issued a joint statement demanding the release of Batumelebi and Netgazeti founder Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been on hunger strike since her arrest earlier in January.

On Thursday, members of MFC cited Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, who said that Amaghlobeli’s pre-trial detention was ‘unjustified’, as well as calling for her immediate release. O’Flaherty said her case should be reviewed.

The joint statement, signed by the embassies of Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and Ukraine, asserted that Amaghlobeli’s case represented ‘another worrying example of the intimidation of journalists in Georgia, restricting media freedom and freedom of expression’.

The embassies expressed concern that no law enforcement officers have been suspended or charged following the ‘systematic violence against demonstrators’.

Human rights activists in Georgia have suggested that more than 400 people could have been detained during pro-EU demonstrations against the government in November and December — a large number of whom claimed that they were subjected to physical or psychological abuse by law enforcement officers.

Thursday’s statement called on the Georgian authorities to protect the rights of journalists, particularly those who have been subjected to excessive force while covering protests.

According to IPN, Malkhaz Urtkmelidze, head of the medical department of the Special Penitentiary Service, claimed on Friday that Amaghlobeli’s health condition is satisfactory and stable.

‘We call on Mzia Amaghlobeli to end her hunger strike in the best interests of his health’, he said.

Kobakhidze: police represent the state

Amaghlobeli was first detained on 11 January for hanging a poster at a pro-European rally in Batumi, but was later released that same day.

Soon after her release, she was detained again, this time on charges of slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze, which the prosecutor’s office considered an ‘attack on a police officer’ — a criminal offence which carries a prison sentence of four to seven years.

Following her second detention, Amaghlobeli has been on a hunger strike since 14 January. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) stated on Thursday that ‘according to the lawyers, she is already having difficulty walking the distance needed to meet with a lawyer’.

Amaghlobeli has preexisting health-related problems and has been only taking water for the past 17 days.

Many international and local human rights organisations, foreign and Georgian politicians, and more than 300 Georgian journalists, editors, and media managers have been calling on the ruling Georgian Dream government to release Amaghlobeli from prison.

Speaking to RFE/RL on Thursday, O’Flaherty urged Georgian authorities to act immediately, as Amaghlobeli’s case has become a matter of life and death.

O’Flaherty stated that he hopes that the Georgian authorities will act with the necessary speed in this extremely difficult situation.

Jan Braathu, the OSCE’s Representative on Media Freedom, also called on the Georgian government to immediately release Amaghlobeli.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that ‘raising a hand against a police officer’ should receive the full extent of punishment.

‘I want to tell everyone – this is of course also important for prevention – I say this as a lawyer: when a person insults a police officer, the strictest measures must be taken to protect the state’, he said.

‘The police represent the state. Raising a hand against the police and a police officer must be punished as strictly as possible. This is natural, this approach used by law enforcement agencies, and, of course, it should continue like this’.

Kobakhidze blamed ‘foreign officials, specific diplomats’, and representatives of donor organisations for Amaghlobeli’s imprisonment.

‘They encouraged violence against the police. They have been doing this with particular activity since the end of October - since the second day of the [parliamentary] elections’, Kobakhidze said.

On Wednesday, Kakha Kaladze, General Secretary of Georgian Dream and Mayor of Tbilisi, claimed that he had never heard an apology from Amaghlobeli.

‘Everyone can make a mistake [...] we are human and we have all made a mistake. A person committed a crime, isn’t it a crime when you hit a police officer?! I don’t remember, I haven’t heard it and I’m sure no one has heard it, at least regret. She could have come out and said humanely, “I made a mistake and forgive me”. Have you heard this? Irakli Dgebuadze is a decent police officer’, he told the media.

For more than 60 days in different cities across Georgia, thousands of people have been protesting against the government’s recent EU U-turn.

Political tensions in Georgia have been on the rise since the official results of the October 2024 parliamentary elections gave Georgian Dream a large majority, with 54% of the vote. All four major opposition parties have since contested the results and boycotted parliament.

‘A single blow cannot be considered beating, even if it causes pain’

In light of the widespread assertion that the punishment Amoghlobeli is facing is overly harsh and politically motivated, some media outlets have researched Georgian criminal codes and court history to find comparative cases.

On Thursday, Batumelebi studied several decisions of the Supreme Court of Georgia, which, according to them, ‘clearly show that slapping a police officer is not an assault on a police officer’.

Batumelebi said it had reviewed seven cases involving physical confrontations between citizens and law enforcement officers, and wrote that in one case, the court found the person accused of slapping a police officer guilty of violence, and issued a fine of ₾2800 ($980).

The local civil rights group Social Justice Centre stated on 20 January that ‘the use of detention against Mzia Amaghlobeli is illegal and the decision must be reversed’.

Podcast | Mzia Amaghlobeli’s arrest

Mariam Nikuradze, Irma Dimitradze, and Tamar Rukhadze talk about the arrest of Batumelebi and Netgazeti founder Mzia Amaghlobeli.

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