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Batumelebi/Netgazeti Director Investigated on Criminal Charges

Newspaper publisher Mzia Amaghlobeli was detained during the early hours of January 12 and is being investigated on criminal charges of assaulting the police officer, her family was reportedly informed by the police investigator. Amaghlobeli is a founder and director of Batumelebi online newspaper in Batumi and its sister nationwide online magazine Netgazeti. Her defense lawyers say they haven’t received the formal notification on charges yet. The charges must be formally brought – or dropped – within 48 hours.

On the night of January 11-12, Amaghlobeli was detained twice in front of the Main Police Directorate of Batumi. First, she was detained for posting a sticker calling for a nationwide strike and released within two hours. She remained at the Police Directorate building, where a spontaneous protest erupted, calling for the release of the detained.

Amaghlobeli’s defense lawyer, Paata Diasamidze, told Batumelebi that the factual circumstances of her detention were not clear. The defense lawyers were prevented from seeing their client for several hours and finally entered the detention facility at 3 a.m. on January 12.

A representative of the Public Defender who was allowed to visit Amaghlobeli earlier relayed her testimony that during the altercation, she was squeezed by the crowd and made an instinctive gesture to free her hand, accidentally hitting the man in front of her, who turned out to be Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze, who proceeded to personally detain her. Amaghlobeli complained of police mistreatment to the Public Defender’s representative.

According to Article 353 Prima of the Criminal Code, assaulting a police officer is punishable by 4 to 7 years imprisonment.

Batumelebi newspaper was born in the Autonomous Province of Adjara and persecuted by local strongman Aslan Abashidze. The journalists from this respected, award-winning publication have faced pressure and reprisals in the past.

The Public Defender’s Office reported that during the nights of January 11-12, its representatives visited 10 detained citizens, identifying several violations, instances of mistreatment, and verbal assaults. Five individuals were reportedly arrested, with one detainee suffering chest and head pain, as well as scratches on his hands, allegedly due to police violence. According to the statement, most detainees were not informed about the grounds for their arrest or their legal rights. Additionally, three detainees expressed their intention to initiate an investigation, prompting the Public Defender’s Office to notify the Special Investigation Service for further legal action.

This news was updated on January 12 at 14:15 to include information from Public Defender’s Office


CORRECTION: This news item was modified from its original version. The original post contained a reference to video footage, which purportedly showed the moment of the second detention of Mzia Amaglobeli by Irakli Dgebuadze. We learned that while Mzia Amaghlobeli indeed was detained the second time, the person being detained in the video is not her. The actual footage of Amaghlobeli’s second arrest shows a verbal altercation with the police, followed by Amaghlobeli slapping Dgebuadze in the face.

Information about the actual footage of the arrest was added to this news on January 13, 13:15

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)

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