The verdict against Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was announced at the Batumi City Court by Judge Nino Sakhelashvili. She sentenced the female journalist to 2 years in prison.
As the judge explained, the charge brought against Mzia under Part 1 of Article 353-3 Prima was reclassified to Part 1 of Article 353, which means that Mzia was dropped from the charge of assaulting a police officer. This article refers to “resistance to a police officer, an employee of the Special Penitentiary Service or another representative of the government, obstruction of the maintenance of public order, with the aim of terminating or changing his activities, as well as coercing him to commit a clearly illegal act, committed with violence or threat of violence.”
The crime under this article is punishable by a fine or house arrest for a term of up to two years or imprisonment for a term of two to six years. The judge stated that Mzia’s preventive measure of imprisonment will be canceled and the sentence will begin to run from the date of arrest.
Mzia was greeted with applause and cheers when she entered the hall. The decision was followed by protests and noise in the hall. Amaghlobeli was taken away by employees of the Special Penitentiary Service.
How the Trials Were Conducted
Mzia Amaghlobeli has been in custody for 7 months. The prosecutor’s office accused her of attacking the head of the Batumi police, Irakli Dgebuadze. This carries a sentence of 4 to 7 years in prison.
After her arrest, Amaghlobeli went on a hunger strike for 38 days. On June 23, it became known that her eyesight had deteriorated sharply since her arrest.
Mzia was arrested on January 11 in Batumi for putting on a sticker. On January 12, she was arrested again, this time under criminal law, for slapping Irakli Dgebuadze. The Batumi police chief claims that he experienced pain at the time.
A few days after Amaghlobeli’s arrest, Batumi residents and Netgazeti released a video and information that during her second arrest, Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze was cursing Mzia in the police yard. In addition, the words can be heard in the video: “Son of a b*tch, I’ll catch her with criminal law, I’ll f*ck her up.”
On July 14, Mzia Amaghlobeli testified at the trial, describing how, after her arrest, she was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at the police station. Mzia recalled that Dgebuadze spat in her face and did not allow her to drink water or use the toilet.
Mzia said in court:
“A young man broke down the door, cursing at me crassly, trying to beat me, if the others hadn’t stopped him, he would have beaten me. I didn’t look him in the face, I only looked up for a moment and at that moment he came closer and spat at me. Then I asked who he was and they said, ‘How can you not know? It’s Dgebuadze.'”
To this day, I can’t forgive myself for that silence, how I didn’t break everything there, how I didn’t scream. When he spat on me, the only thing I could do was get up and say, “Bring me some water, take me to the restroom.” The female police officer in the room was about to bring her a glass of water, but a voice stopped her. It was Dgebuadze’s voice: “No, no water,” and his own voice: “Let her piss herself!”
According to neurologist Natia Kharati, who was questioned in court on July 21, based on the video footage and other expert findings in this case, “there are no objective signs of pain.”
Here are a few quotes from her testimony:
“It is impossible to prove that Irakli Dgebuadze experienced pain”;
“In good lighting conditions, both of Irakli Dgebuadze’s cheeks are visible; there is no redness or any other objective sign of pain”;
“The sound I heard (the sound of a slap) was like a faint round of applause… When was the last time you were in a theater, or at a Sukhishvili concert? How do they clap there? Do we go through rehabilitation after all the applause?”
During the trial, Mzia was repeatedly targeted by propaganda attacks. At one of the recent trials, her lawyer, Maia Mtsariashvili, recalled the statements made by the Georgian Dream representatives regarding the case and asked the judge whether she would be able to withstand such pressure from high-ranking officials and make a decision independently:
“Can you tell the government officials, by your decision, that they have no idea what the presumption of innocence is? Can you tell them that no one is asking them to comment on a criminal case, to preach, and to continuously call for Mzia Amaghlobeli to confess to the crime?”
She also stated that Mzia’s vision has deteriorated further and she has 1% vision left in one eye, meaning she has practically no vision left, and in the other eye, with glasses, it can only be improved to 30%. The human rights defender asked the court to take this into account when making a decision.
At the court hearing before the verdict was announced, Mzia made her closing statement, explaining why she did not agree to the plea agreement offered by the prosecutor’s office.
“In my case, it’s not like that. Without any exaggeration, it’s equivalent to being buried alive, even the offer was very insulting to me. In short, I can’t say anything new, the lawyers have already made my position clear, it is a no.
I cannot sign this plea bargain for the simple reason that what happened was not an attack, and presenting and packaging a slap as an attack is evil. I personally don’t know what the law is. I’ve been thinking about this for 7 months and I don’t know.”
She also addressed the prosecutors and told them: “This verdict will not be my verdict alone. It will be your verdict as well, Mr. Prosecutors, and it will be a professional verdict for all those who were involved in this case on the part of the state.”
In her closing speech, Mzia thanked her colleagues, all those working in critical media, the civil sector, and all citizens fighting for freedom, who represent the resistance team.
“Wherever you are, remember that the voice and strength that comes from you are a carrier of immeasurable energy. It is precisely because of your solidarity that I survived physically during the famine, so do not lose faith in your abilities — there is still time to fight until victory.”
At the end of her speech, Mzia said that she also wanted to apologize to her family, friends, the editorial staff of Netgazeti and Batumelebi for not being with them during their most difficult time.
“I don’t just want to thank you, I also want to apologize: to my family, friends, Batumelebi and Netgazeti team, I want to say that I am sorry, I am very sorry, that I am not with you at this most difficult and, at the same time, important time.”
“Do not break, do not let my imprisonment weaken you, I believe in you. I believe that no matter how difficult and dangerous the environment you are in, all your steps will be worthy, will be directed towards the protection of thought, speech and freedom. And finally, freedom for all political prisoners, we are not criminals. Thank you.”
International Responses
During this time, a number of international organizations, including those working on press freedom, have called for and expressed support for Mzia Amaghlobeli’s release. Here are a few of them:
Media freedom organizations have called on the Georgian Dream to drop all charges against Mzia and release her immediately. They said they will closely monitor developments related to the trial and hope that the discriminatory persecution of Mzia, a symbol of media freedom, will end.
The International Press Institute also demanded Mzia’s release.
“The Georgian authorities must immediately release Mzia Amaghlobeli, drop the disproportionate charges against her, and conduct an independent investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment against her. We stand with Mzia Amaghlobeli, the people of Batumi and his colleagues at Netgazeti, and all independent journalists in Georgia.”
The Helsinki Commission assessed Mzia’s imprisonment as an attempt by the Georgian Dream to suppress free press and called on the Georgian Dream to release her.
“Georgian Dream is trying to cover up corruption and crimes against the Georgian people by suppressing a free press. They are trying to silence journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been in pretrial detention since January on politically motivated charges.”
The Prague Civil Society Center also responded to the imprisonment of Mzia Amaghlobeli. In their statement, they drew attention to Mzia’s health condition and demanded her immediate release and appropriate treatment.
“Due to a progressive disease, Mzia’s vision has deteriorated critically, leaving her with almost no vision in one eye and impaired vision in the other. Despite this, she has not received any treatment since February.”
The European Parliament resolution also called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mzia Amaghlobeli and the dropping of all politically motivated charges against her.
In addition, the Strasbourg Court has also begun considering Mzia’s case.