Two detainees begin hunger strike in support of Mzia Amghlobeli

Two demonstrators detained during anti-government protests have begun a hunger strike in solidarity with Batumelebi and Netgazeti founder Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been in pre-trial detention since 11 January for ‘assaulting a police officer’.

According to local media, on Wednesday, lawyer Guja Avsajanishvili stated that his client, Nikoloz Javakhishvili, 20, had begun a hunger strike in support of Amaghlobeli.

Javakhishvili was arrested on 30 November on charges of launching fireworks.

Previously, on Tuesday, another detainee, Rezo Kiknadze, 26, declared a hunger strike, also  in solidarity with Amaghlobeli. He was detained on 6 December on charges of  participating in group violence.

According to local media, if found guilty, the two detainees face between four to six years in prison.

On 11 January, Judge Irakli Khuskivadze remanded Javakhishvili and seven other protesters arrested on charges of organising and participating in group violence during the ongoing protests to pre-trial detention. The day prior, Judge Ketevan Jachvadze similarly remanded Kiknadze and 10 other people arrested on the same charges to pre-trial detention.

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.

Minutes 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.

On Tuesday, the Kutaisi Court of Appeals declared Amaghlobeli’s lawsuit which appealed against the imposition of imprisonment as a preventive measure inadmissible.

Her next hearing is scheduled for 4 March.

Amaghlobeli herself has been on a hunger strike since 14 January.

‘Freedom is more valuable than life’, Amaghlobeli wrote in a letter published on 20 December. She added that ‘any citizen could find themselves in my situation, someone who wants to live in a democratic, European, and Russia-free Georgia’.

On Wednesday, media representatives demonstrated in support of Amaghlobeli outside the State Chancellery, but also urged the Batumelebi founder to end her hunger strike over concerns about her health.

Batumelebi and Netgazeti founder Amaghlobeli begins hunger strike while in pretrial detention

Amaghlobeli said ‘freedom is more valuable than life’.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia