Sentencing of Georgian journalist Amaghlobeli met with international condemnation
Georgia’s sentencing of journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli to two years in prison has been met with widespread international condemnation, with 24 European embassies calling the verdict ‘disproportionate and politicised’.
The embassies issued a joint statement condemning the ruling on Wednesday, just after Amaghlobeli was sentenced for slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze.
The signatories — among whom was the EU diplomatic Mission in Georgia — expressed concern over Amaghlobeli’s health condition, and government pressure on Batumelebi and Netgazeti, the independent media outlets founded by Amaghlobeli. They called the case a ‘clear violation’ of Georgia's obligation to protect press freedom and freedom of expression.
‘We express our solidarity with Mzia Amaghlobeli and call for her immediate release’, read their statement.
The EU’s Diplomatic Service later published a separate statement strongly condemning the ruling and expressing concern over the ‘instrumentalisation’ of Georgia’s justice system as a tool for repression.
‘We call on the Georgian authorities to release Mzia Amaghlobeli and all other unjustly detained individuals, and to ensure and protect the right to a fair trial as a fundamental principle of justice and an essential pillar of democratic governance’, the statement read.
Responding to a Formula TV question about the sentencing, the US State Department also expressed concern about the ‘continuation and escalation of anti-democratic actions in Georgia, including the detention of representatives of the political opposition and the targeted harassment of civil society, including those critical of the government’s actions’.
International civil rights groups have also denounced the verdict, with Amnesty International criticising the court process and the abuse Amaghlobeli was subjected to in police custody.
‘Mzia Amaghlobeli was subjected to a litany of abuses at the hands of the police: verbally assaulted, spat on, injured and then refused medical help. This was admitted by police officers during her trial, yet impunity has prevailed’, Denis Krivosheev, the organisation’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said.
The head of Reporters Without Borders’ Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, Jeanne Cavelier, also condemned the ruling as an ‘arbitrary decision’.
‘The charges are disproportionate, as a slap does not constitute a criminal offence, and her two-year prison sentence represents a new step in the government’s use of the justice system to silence critical voices. We call on the authorities to put an end to this travesty of justice and to free this journalist at once’, Cavelier said.
Amaghlobeli, who has been in detention since January 2025 for slapping Dgebuadze during a heated argument, was initially charged with ‘assaulting a police officer’, which carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. However, in a last minute change while announcing the verdict on Wednesday, Batumi City Court judge Nino Sakhelashvili downgraded the charge to ‘resisting, threatening, or using violence against a protector of public order’, sentencing her to two years instead.
OC Media
