TBILISI, March 9 – Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) on Monday announced the group had a third complaint to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of newspaper editor Mzia Amaglobeli.
This latest suit focuses on what the group describes as ill-treatment during her arrest on January 12, 2025. According to GYLA, Strasbourg is already examining two other cases linked to Amaglobeli. One concerns what the organization calls the unlawful use of pre-trial detention against her. The other concerns her administrative detention and related alleged violations, which the court has already registered.
In the new filing, GYLA says Amaglobeli was detained around 1 a.m. near the entrance of the Adjara police department, and that police used violent methods during the arrest, causing physical injuries and tearing her jacket. The organization also says that after she was taken into the police yard, Batumi police chief Irakli Dgebuadze verbally abused her, cursed at her and threatened her. GYLA says he also tried to use physical force against her but was restrained by his own colleagues.
The rights group says the alleged mistreatment continued inside the police building. It also claims that for several hours Amaglobeli was denied access to a lawyer, was searched without lawyers present, and was handcuffed behind her back even though, according to GYLA, there was no real need for that measure.
GYLA says the new complaint argues that several fundamental rights under the European Convention on Human Rights were violated. These include the ban on inhuman or degrading treatment, the duty to carry out an effective investigation, the right to respect for private life, the ban on discrimination, and the right to an effective remedy.
The organization says the state failed to carry out an independent and objective investigation into the alleged abuse. It argues that investigators examined video footage from only one entrance to the police department, even though Amaglobeli was not taken into the building through that entrance. GYLA also says investigators failed to secure other relevant video evidence, did not fully examine alleged violations of her defense rights, and left unanswered issues including contradictory police testimony.
One point highlighted by the group is that, despite what it says was an admission in court by Dgebuadze that he insulted Amaglobeli, she still has not been recognized as a victim in the case. GYLA also argues that Georgia currently lacks an effective domestic mechanism for obtaining victim status in such cases, leaving her without real legal protection at the national level.
