Day: January 12, 2026
On the one-year anniversary of the arrest of journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, 24 diplomatic missions in Georgia reiterated in a joint statement their call for her “immediate release.”
The statement, shared on January 12 by member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition and aligned embassies in Georgia, marked one year since Mzia Amaghlobeli’s arrest. It was originally issued on August 6, when they condemned the court’s decision to sentence Amaghlobeli, founder of the Batumelebi and Netgazeti online media outlets, to two years in prison as “disproportionate and politicized.”
Her case, as well as “the pressure on Batumelebi and Netgazeti, exemplify the escalating intimidation of journalists in Georgia, including unpunished violence and legal persecution, in clear violation of the country’s international obligations to protect media freedom and freedom of expression,” the joint statement read.
“We express our solidarity with Mzia Amaghlobeli and call for her immediate release.”
The statement is signed by the diplomatic missions of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Marking the anniversary, Mzia Amaghlobeli’s supporters plan to march in her solidarity in the evening from Marjanishvili Square to Parliament in Tbilisi.
Mzia Amaghlobeli was arrested overnight on January 11-12, 2025. She was first arrested for putting up a sticker at the Batumi police building calling for a nationwide strike, was released within hours, and then arrested again after she slapped local police chief Irakli Dgebuadze in the face amid a tense protest. She initially faced four to seven years in jail as the slap was classified as an attack on police, a criminal offense.
In pretrial detention, Mzia Amaghlobeli was on a hunger strike for 38 days, ending the protest in February after appeals from her family, friends and colleagues. In custody, her health conditions deteriorated seriously, especially her eyesight.
On August 6, she was sentenced to two years in prison after Batumi City Court Judge Nino Sakhelashvili reclassified the charges from assaulting a police officer to the less serious offense of “resistance, threat or violence” against an official.
The case had attracted widespread scrutiny, with observers describing both the criminal charges, the lengthy pre-trial custody, and the sentence as punitive measures aimed at silencing the journalist.
During her detention, she was fined twice on administrative charges in what her lawyers said was two fines for the same act of putting up a sticker.
On October 22, Mzia Amaghlobeli was awarded the EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought alongside Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
Also Read:
- 18/11/2025 – Appeals Court Upholds Two-Year Sentence for Journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli
- 07/08/2025 – International and Domestic Reactions to Mzia Amaghlobeli’s Verdict
- 07/08/2025 – EU Condemns Mzia Amaghlobeli’s Arrest, Calls to Release ‘Unjustly Detained’
- 21/07/2025 – Batumelebi Alleges Pressure as Authorities Seize Outlet’s Bank Accounts
- 19/06/2025 – European Parliament Demands Journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli’s ‘Immediate’ and ‘Unconditional’ Release