11:58, 17 November 2025

A new complaint in the Amaglobeli case has been sent to the ECHR.

Georgian human rights activists have filed a new complaint with the ECHR regarding the violation of the rights of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who has been subjected to administrative and criminal prosecution.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in April, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association filed a complaint with the ECHR on behalf of Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the publications "Batumelebi" and "Netgazeti," regarding the unlawful deprivation of liberty and other violations of her rights under the European Convention.

On August 6, a court in Batumi sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli to two years in prison for slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze. Amaglobeli's charges were reduced at the final stage of the trial; the original charge carried a sentence of four to seven years in prison. On November 14, at a hearing on the appeal against Mzia Amaglobeli's sentence, a representative of the state prosecutor demanded a harsher sentence for the journalist.

The Young Lawyers' Association has filed a new complaint with the ECHR regarding Mzia Amaglobeli's case, the organization's chairperson, Nona Kurdovanidze, announced.

"This time, the case concerns administrative procedures that were applied to Amaglobeli completely unlawfully [...] The fining of Mzia Amaglobeli in two administrative cases is contrary to both Georgian law and violates the rights guaranteed by the Convention," Georgia Online quoted her as saying today.

Human rights activists believe that Amaglobeli's rights to liberty and security of person, a fair trial, freedom of expression and assembly, and effective legal protection have been violated. "Under these articles, we dispute that Mzia Amaglobeli's administrative detention was completely unfounded," Kurdovanidze was quoted as saying in the publication.

On the night of January 12, 10 people were detained in Batumi, including Mzia Amaglobeli. Amaglobeli was detained for posting a poster calling for a general strike on a wall. When Amaglobeli was released, she found herself in a stampede where an incident occurred involving the city's police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze. According to a silent video published by the pro-government television channel Imedi, Amaglobeli, surrounded and held by police officers and men in dark clothing, said something to Dgebuadze, who responded and turned away. Amaglobeli sharply rebuked him and slapped him. After this, she was surrounded by security forces on all sides, and the journalist was detained again, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Mzia Amaglobeli Case: Circumstances of the Arrest and the Campaign in Defense of the Journalist".

As a reminder, on March 18, Judge Salikh Shainidze fined Mzia Amaglobeli 2,000 lari (approximately $720) for an administrative case of insulting a police officer. On the same day, the Batumi City Court began hearing Amaglobeli's criminal case for assaulting a police officer.

On June 18, the Batumi Court found Mzia Amaglobeli guilty of an administrative offense and fined her 1,000 lari for a "Georgia on Strike" poster pasted on a police building. Amaglobeli was not present at the court hearing, and at the previous hearing, she called her second administrative case absurd.

In October, Mzia Amaglobeli received the Sakharov Prize "For Freedom of Thought," the European Union's highest human rights award.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/417259