Georgian journalist jailed for slapping police chief
A Georgian court has sentenced journalist Mzia Amaglobeli to two years in prison for slapping a police chief during a protest, a case rights advocates say highlights the country’s shrinking space for free expression. The Batumi court convicted Amaglobeli, a co-founder of two independent media outlets, over an incident from October in which she was filmed lightly slapping police official Irakli Dgebuadze during a heated exchange.
The footage, widely circulated by Georgian media, shows Amaglobeli and Dgebuadze in a tense verbal confrontation before the brief physical contact. Her supporters argue the action was not serious enough to qualify as assault under Georgian law. The judge ultimately downgraded the charge from assaulting a police officer to using violence against a protector of public order—a lesser offense, though still resulting in a prison sentence, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Amaglobeli called the charges “malicious” and “insulting” during court proceedings this week, according to local media. The Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, condemned the verdict as “outrageous.”
The sentencing has drawn international criticism. A joint statement issued by 24 Western diplomatic missions—including those from the European Union, Canada, and the UK—condemned what they described as increasing intimidation of journalists. Diplomats from Germany, France, Poland, and the European Union were present in the courtroom, alongside former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a vocal critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Georgia, once seen as a democratic leader among post-Soviet states, has been rocked by more than a year of anti-government protests. Demonstrators have accused the ruling party of veering toward authoritarianism and aligning more closely with Moscow. Since November, nightly protests have erupted over the government’s decision to suspend EU accession talks, a reversal of a long-standing national objective in the country of 3.7 million people.
Amaglobeli’s allies say her imprisonment stands in stark contrast to the lack of accountability for last year’s violent crackdown on demonstrators. Meanwhile, most opposition leaders remain jailed for refusing to testify before a parliamentary inquiry they claim is politically motivated.
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