Detained journalist Mzia Amaglobeli continues hunger strike

Mzia Amaglobeli, founder and director of Georgian online publications Batumelebi and Netgazeti, has been on a hunger strike for over 30 days. She was arrested in January for slapping a police officer during a protest in Batumi, as reported by one of her lawyers and human rights activist, the head of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Nona Kurdovanidze. 

Amaglobeli is now at the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi and is undergoing additional medical examinations.

“Amaglobeli continues her hunger strike and stays at the clinic for additional examinations. Amaglobeli hasn’t changed her attitude and demands to be returned (to prison), although, of course, the final decision should be made based on the results of medical examinations, not just on her request. In this case, the decisive factor will certainly be medical indicators,” the lawyer said.

On Feb. 4, 2025, Amaglobeli was transferred from the N5 special detention facility for women near Rustavi to Vivamedi, where doctors recommended continuing treatment on an outpatient basis.

As reported earlier, Amaglobeli was detained after she slapped Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, during a protest in Batumi. The incident happened during a fight provoked by the police. Amaglobeli faces four to seven years in prison for violating Article 353 of the Georgian criminal code, which prohibits any “attack on a police officer.”

On the day of Amaglobeli’s arrest, Sunday, Jan. 14, the Batumi City Court issued a ruling to keep her in custody as a preventive measure. The preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 4.

While at the N5 women’s detention facility, Amaglobeli was able to hand out a letter to someone who would make it public. In it, she described her charges as the direct result of a repressive policy targeting her personally and suppressing freedom of expression across the country.

Also detained during the Jan. 12 protest was Batumelebi cameraman Guram Murvanidze. According to information by Netgazeti, Murvanidze witnessed the fight near the Constitutional Court in Batumi, and began filming Amaglobeli’s detention on his cell phone. He is appealing a sentence of eight days’ imprisonment imposed for filming by Judge Irma Togonidze of the Batumi city court.

As reported earlier, in 2024, PEN Ukraine issued a statement in support of the Georgian literary community and journalists. PEN International also called on the Georgian police to stop the violence. In June 2024, a law identical to the Russian law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” officially came into force in Georgia after it was signed by the speaker of the parliament, overriding the veto of Pres. Salome Zourabichvili.

In October 2024, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” won the elections with almost 54% of the vote. Four opposition parties passed the 5% threshold. All of them refused to recognize the results of the elections and enter the parliament chambers. On Oct. 27, Pres. Zourabichvili refused to recognize the results of the parliamentary elections and announced a protest. The opposition also did not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections.

In November 2024, publishers and authors went on a peaceful protest against the results of the parliamentary elections. The “Georgian Dream” party approved a new parliament and announced the suspension of negotiations with the EU until 2028, which caused a wave of new street demonstrations.

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Main image: Mo Se/Facebook

Source: Echo of the Caucasus

Copy editing: Ben Angel