TBILISI, December 16 – The European Parliament used its top human rights award ceremony on Tuesday to honor newspaper founder Mzia Amaghlobeli and her Belarusian colleague Andrzej Poczobut. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Amaghlobeli and Poczobut embody courage, as she spoke during the Sakharov Prize award event in Strasbourg. Metsola said the Parliament would … Read more
TBILISI, November 19 – A Georgian appeals court has upheld a two year prison sentence for editor Mzia Amaghlobeli. Amaghlobeli is the founder of two independent outlets, Netgazeti and Batumelebi. On 6 August she was convicted under Article 353, part one, of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which covers resistance, threats or violence against a law enforcement … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Two imprisoned journalists from Georgia and Belarus have been named the winners of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Parliament’s top human rights award. Announcing the decision in Strasbourg, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola praised their courage, saying that example shown by Georgia’s Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder of the independent outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, has been shortlisted for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of Europe’s highest honors for human rights and free expression. Amaghlobeli shares the finalist list with Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarusian journalist currently imprisoned in Belarus. … Read more
TBILISI, September 23 – A Georgian journalist facing trial has been nominated for the European Parliament’s top human rights award. Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of the independent news outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, was put forward for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought at a joint session of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs and development committees, … Read more
TBILISI, September 9 – A Georgian editor jailed after slapping a police chief during a protest has been named one of six winners of Europe’s Free Media Award, given by Norway’s Fritt Ord Foundation and Germany’s ZEIT Stiftung Bucerius. Mzia Amaghlobeli, founder of the outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, has become a symbol of Georgia’s embattled … Read more
The response from European and American politicians and organizations to the Mzia Amaghlobeli case—centered on a media owner and journalist who slapped a police chief—appears to be part of a broader effort to pressure the Georgian Dream government, which many in the West increasingly view as authoritarian and aligned with Russian interests, writes Sopo Japaridze. … Read more
The sentencing of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli to two years in prison has sparked a wave of international condemnation, with diplomats, rights groups, and officials describing the ruling as a blow to media freedom in Georgia. Amaghlobeli, editor of independent newspapers Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was convicted yesterday of slapping a police chief during a protest … Read more
TBILISI, August 6 – Supporters of Georgian newspaper editor Mzia Amaghlobeli took to the streets of Tbilisi on Wednesday evening, marching from the Philharmonic concert hall to the central Rustaveli Avenue under the banner “Freedom for Mzia, freedom for political prisoners.“ The demonstration followed a Batumi court’s decision earlier in the day to sentence Amaghlobeli … Read more
TBILISI, August 6 – A court in the Georgian city of Batumi has sentenced journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli to two years in prison, in a case that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition groups and rights advocates. Amaghlobeli, founder of the independent outlet Batumelebi, was initially charged with attacking a police official during a January protest. … Read more