Mzia Amaglobeli

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Mzia Amaghlobeli (or Amaglobeli) (Georgian: მზია ამაღლობელი, born 12 May 1975) is a Georgian journalist, a co-founder and a director of online media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti. She is the Independent Journalists' House member, based in Batumi.^[1]

On 12 January 2025, during the protests in Georgia, Mzia Amaglobeli was arrested on charges of attacking a police officer after she slapped the head of Batumi Police, Irakli Dgebuadze. The article she was charged with carries a prison sentence of 4 to 7 years. On 14 January, Amaglobeli was remanded in custody.

According to local and international NGOs (who?), civil society and public figures (who?) (source?), the qualification of Amaglobeli's actions as an "assault" and her criminal prosecution are unsubstantiated. (Source?)

As of 23 January 2025^[update], Amaglobeli has been on a hunger strike since her arrest. According to her, this is a protest against injustice.^{[2] [3]} According to the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, Mzia Amaghlobeli's life is in danger as of 27 January 2025^[update].^[4]

Mzia Amaglobeli started her journalistic career in Batumi in 2000 as a reporter for "Adjara PS" newspaper. In 2001, 26-year-old Mzia, together with her friend and colleague Eter Turadze, founded the independent media organization "Batumelebi" in the form of a non-periodical printed newspaper. Since the founding of the newspaper company, Amaglobeli has been its General Director. She manages the company's Tbilisi and Batumi offices and leads the organization's commercial and media projects.

The establishment of Batumelebi was a direct response to the widespread violations of the rule of law, human rights abuses, and widespread corruption during the rule of Adjara's autocratic leader, Aslan Abashidze. In 2003, under pressure from the authoritarian regime in Adjara, the Batumi City Court revoked the company's legal registration, after which the authorities consistently refused to allow Amaglobeli to re-register the company under a new name. With the support of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Amaglobeli successfully registered a new organization in Tbilisi, and on 8 August 2003, it was officially renamed to LLC "Gazeti Batumelebi".

Under Amaglobeli's leadership, her media organization has won numerous awards for courageous journalism and ethical reporting. In 2009, Batumelebi and in 2015, Netgazeti received the European Press Prize. This award is given to those publications that, according to the German Zeit-Stiftung and the Norwegian Foundation for Freedom of Expression, "are not afraid of censorship and repression."^[5] The media outlet angered Kremlin's authorities, receiving the status of "an organization disseminating anti-Russian propaganda" and was banned in Russia. In 2022, Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor blocked the Russian-language versions of Netgazeti and Batumelebi.^[6][7]

The events leading up to Mzia Amaglobeli's arrest began on the night of 11 January in the city of Batumi during protests calling for a re-run of the disputed October 2024 election; she was arrested twice that night.

Initially, she was arrested on administrative charges for trying to put up a sticker calling for a national strike which was a legitimate form of freedom of expression. After being detained for two hours, she was released on bail. She was arrested again 15 minutes later near the Batumi police station for assaulting a police officer.

The video shot during the live broadcast shows her slapping Batumi police chief Irakli Dgebuadze, the same officer who arrested her the first time. The footage shows her standing alongside Batumelebi editor Eter Turadze after her young relatives were arrested in front of her, surrounded by around twenty police officers as a verbal altercation takes place; a policeman (possibly Dgebuadze) can be heard threatening and assaulting her. Mzia then slaps Dgebuadze which leads to her aggressive arrest. The video shows that the force of Amaglobeli's flexed hand was so small that it could not have caused Dgebuadze any significant pain, and this action was only symbolic.^[8]

On 14 January 2025, judge Nino Sakhelashvili of the Batumi City Court ordered pretrial detention for Mzia Amaghlobeli.^[9] The Prosecutor's Office accuses Amaghlobeli of slapping the head of Batumi police, Irakli Dgebuadze, allegedly motivated by "revenge".^[10]

The court rejected the defense's proposal of a 100,000 GEL bail.^[11] The prosecution's arguments were based on risks of flight, failure to appear in court, destruction of evidence important to the case, and the potential for repeated offenses. However, the judge showed no interest in the evidentiary basis for these risks when ordering Amaghlobeli's detention.^[8] The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) argues that there is no justification for pretrial detention in this case, as there are no risks of flight, witness tampering, or obstruction of the investigation by Mzia Amaghlobeli.^[12]

During the court hearing, Mzia Amaghlobeli appeared with Maria Ressa’s book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, which she used to draw parallels between the book’s narrative and the repressive and authoritarian politics of the Georgian Dream government.^[13] This symbolic act by Amaghlobeli garnered a response from Maria Ressa. The Filipino journalist spoke about the ongoing protests in Georgia and the media manager's detention during a speech at a Vatican jubilee event.^[14]

The monitors and human rights defenders who have been able to communicate with Amaghlobeli demand investigation of her ill-treatment after the second arrest. According to Amaghlobeli's account, she was verbally and physically harrased at the police station. The media-manager alleges that Chief Dgebuadze swore at her and spat in her face, and had several attempts of physical abuse but was stopped by other policemen.^[15]

On 21 January, the Kutaisi Court of Appeals refused to review the complaint regarding the modification of Mzia Amaghlobeli's pretrial detention.^[16] Protests demanding her immediate release are being held in various cities across Georgia in support of Mzia Amaghlobeli.^[17]

The local media community criticised Amaghlobeli's arrest, viewing it as an attack on free media. On 14 January, Georgian independent online media and opposition TV channels held a preventive strike in protest and ceased broadcasting for three hours. During this time they displayed Mzia's picture in court in which she is holding Maria Ressa's book with the text: That's how Georgia will be without critical media. Freedom to Mzia and to all of the prisoners of the regime. We are on strike.^[18]

Mzia Amaghlobeli's pretrial detention was condemned by numerous international and local human rights organizations. The Media Advocacy Coalition published a letter demanding the immediate release of the media manager.^[19] The Coalition for Women in Journalism described Amaghlobeli's detention as a "blatant attack on press freedom." Local and international public figures are speaking out about the illegality of Mzia Amaghlobeli's detention and are demanding her release.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Transparency International also commented on the case, issuing a statement on the journalist’s arrest. Transparency International Georgia stated:

Mzia Amaghlobeli's actions, due to their minor significance, cannot objectively be considered a crime. According to Article 7, Paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code of Georgia: "An act shall not be considered a crime if, while formally containing elements of an act defined by this Code, it has caused no harm due to its minor significance that would necessitate the criminal liability of the person, nor has it created a risk of such harm." A slap, which could not have caused pain, is of only minor significance and could not have resulted in any serious harm.^[8]

The regime's police and prosecutor's office have exploited Mzia Amaghlobeli's actions and are attempting to impose exemplary punishment. It is evident that Mzia Amaghlobeli is not being punished for committing an act of significant danger but for exposing the regime's corruption and involvement in illegal activities over the years. Therefore, it can be said that Mzia Amaghlobeli is a political prisoner, based on the definition established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.^[8]

On 29 January, Jan Braathu, an OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media, called for her release. He was joined by embassies of 14 countries, members of the Media Freedom Coalition, which published a joint statement on 30 January.^[24]

The same day, Human Rights Commissioner of Council of Europe, Michael O'Flaherty, again expressed his concern regarding the arrest of Amaglobeli. He had visited Georgia from 21 to 23 January.^[25]

On 31 January, in an interview with Radio Liberty, Theodoros Roussopoulos, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), pointed out that the treatment Amaglobeli received in the detention facility, such as being denied water and access to the restroom, was "torture".^[26]