A Georgian court on Wednesday sentenced independent journalist Mzia Amaglobeli to two years in prison for slapping a police chief during a protest—an incident that rights activists say highlights the country’s deteriorating democratic freedoms.
Amaglobeli, a co-founder of two independent media outlets, was convicted in the Black Sea city of Batumi for lightly slapping Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze during a heated exchange at an anti-government protest last October. Footage of the moment, widely circulated by Georgian media, shows her engaging in an argument before delivering the slap.
Her supporters say the act was minor and should not qualify as assault under Georgian law. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the verdict as outrageous, and Amaglobeli herself denounced the charges as malicious and insulting.
In a surprising move, the judge downgraded the charge from assaulting a police officer to using violence against a public order official, which carries a lighter sentence, yet still resulted in a two-year prison term.
Georgia, once hailed as a democratic success story after breaking from the Soviet Union in 1991, has seen growing unrest. The ruling Georgian Dream party faces sustained criticism for allegedly steering the country toward authoritarianism and closer ties with Moscow.
Amaglobeli’s allies also pointed to the lack of accountability for last year’s violent crackdowns on protesters, calling the sentence a double standard.
A joint statement from 24 Western diplomatic missions, including those of the EU, Canada, and the UK, condemned her sentencing and the broader trend of escalating intimidation of journalists.
European diplomats, as well as former President Salome Zourabichvili, attended the court proceedings in solidarity.
Georgia has witnessed nightly protests since November, driven by the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union—a reversal of a long-held national aspiration. While the protests have diminished in size recently, opposition leaders continue to face jail time, especially those who refuse to recognise a parliamentary inquiry that they label as pro-government propaganda.
Reuters/s.s