New York, January 17, 2025–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to release reporter Guram Murvanidze and to investigate whether Mzia Amaghlobeli is facing retaliatory charges because of her journalism.
Amaghlobeli, founder and director of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, and Murvanidze, also from Batumelebi, were arrested in the western city of Batumi on January 11 during protests calling for a re-run of Georgia’s disputed October 2024 election.
On January 14, Batumi City Court sentenced Murvanidze, who was filming the protests, to eight days’ detention on charges of minor hooliganism and disobeying police orders. The court also ordered Amaghlobeli to be held in pretrial detention on charges of attacking a police officer.
Amaghlobeli was not covering the protests when she was arrested, but her lawyer and local human rights activists believe that her detention and the charge against her–punishable by a mandatory prison term of between four and seven years–are a punitive response to her outlets’ regular reporting on alleged abuses by national and local authorities, including the police.
“The lengthy prison term facing Mzia Amaghlobeli appears disproportionate and raises legitimate concerns that her prosecution is being used to silence the media outlets she runs,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Georgian authorities should release Amaghlobeli and Batumelebi video reporter Guram Murvanidze, and ensure an impartial investigation of the circumstances of Amaghlobeli’s detention.”
Georgia’s Public Defender’s Office criticized the court for failing to justify its decision to detain Amaghlobeli pending trial and her lawyer, Juba Katamadze, told CPJ that the journalist’s slapping of Batumi police chief Irakli Dgebuadze did not warrant the serious “attack” charge. The local office of anticorruption NGO Transparency International expressed a similar view.
Batumelebi journalist Irma Dimitradze told CPJ that Dgebuadze was “certainly” aware of Amaghlobeli’s identity prior to their confrontation. Murvanidze told his lawyer that Dgebuadze told police to take his phone after he identified himself as a Batumelebi journalist.
CPJ emailed the Prosecutors’ Office of Georgia and messaged the spokesperson for Adjara Regional Police Department for comment on the two cases but did not receive any replies.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.
CPJ Staff | Radio Free (2025-01-17T18:08:11+00:00) CPJ calls for release, investigation, after two Georgian journalists detained during protests. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/01/17/cpj-calls-for-release-investigation-after-two-georgian-journalists-detained-during-protests/
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