▲Journalists gather outside of the Rustavi No. 5 Penitentiary Facility in support of detained media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
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Georgian journalists gathered outside of Rustavi No. 5 Penitentiary Facility on Monday evening to show solidarity with detained media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli on her 50th birthday. The date also marked exactly four months since her arrest.
Amaghlobeli, the founder of Georgian media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was first detained on 11 January for hanging a poster at a pro-European rally in Batumi, but was later released that same day.
Within several minutes of her release, she was detained again on charges of slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze. The Prosecutor’s Office considered the slap an ‘attack on a police officer’ — a criminal offence which carries a prison sentence of four to seven years.
On Monday, Amaghlobeli’s colleagues and friends, all involved in media, arrived in front of the Rustavi prison chanting ‘Happy Birthday’ and slogans such as ‘Freedom for Mzia, freedom for prisoners of conscience!’.
A group of Georgian journalists walk around the prison facility ahead of their planned demonstration. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.The demonstrating journalists hold signs reading ‘Freedom for Mzia’ in front of the Rustavi prison facility. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.The demonstrating journalists hold signs reading ‘Freedom for Mzia’ in front of the Rustavi prison facility. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.Journalists gather outside of the Rustavi No. 5 Penitentiary Facility in support of detained media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
As well as gathering in front of the prison, the demonstrators also congregated higher up on the hills behind, hoping that this vantage point would be visible from Amaghlobeli’s cell.
From there, they chanted ‘Free Mzia’ and sent paper lanterns into the sky with notes saying similar slogans as well as ‘Happy Birthday’.
The demonstrators light a red paper lantern. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.The balloon floats in the sky visible from the prison facility. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.The demonstrating journalists light candles to spell out ‘Free Mzia’ in front of the prison facility. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.Candles spell out ‘Free Mzia’ in front of the Rustavi prison. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
After years in academia, Xandie returned to Georgia to join OC Media. Her previous work with non-profits focused on Eurasian affairs, particularly queer and gender rights and green politics. She’s also a fan of foreign cinema, tea, and books (but not spilling tea on books).
Mikheil Gvadzabia
