Mzia Amaghlobeli Among Sakharov Prize Nominees
Jailed Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli is reportedly among eight laureates of the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, several Brussels-based sources told Civil.ge. In August, RFE/RL’s Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak wrote on X that she was “one of the favourites to win this year’s EU Sakharov Prize.” Brussels-based media outlets, including Politico and Euractiv, also reported the inclusion of “dissidents in Georgia.”
The Sakharov Prize, the EU’s top human rights award, has been granted since 1988 to dissidents, political leaders, journalists, lawyers, and civil society activists. The European Parliament bestows the prize, which carries a EUR 50,000 endowment, at a formal plenary session in Strasbourg each year.
This year’s candidates include Palestinian journalists and aid workers nominated by the Socialists party group; Belarusian activist and journalist Andrzej Poczobut, backed by the European People’s Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists; Budapest Pride, nominated by the Greens; and the late Charlie Kirk, put forward posthumously by René Aust of the far-right Identity and Democracy group on behalf of Germany’s AfD. Poczobut, a prominent critic of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko who remains jailed in Minsk, is seen as the frontrunner given the strength of his political backing.
Amaghlobeli was nominated by 60 members of the European Parliament, surpassing the required minimum of 40.
Amaghlobeli, founder of the Batumelebi and Netgazeti media outlets, has already received the Free Media Award, given by Norway’s Fritt Ord Foundation and Germany’s Zeit-Stiftung, to honor journalists in Central and Eastern Europe who work under pressure. She was also named a finalist for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize in August, alongside journalists from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
Mzia Amaghlobeli was arrested in January after slapping police chief Irakli Dgebuadze during tense protest scenes in the western Georgian city of Batumi and is serving a two-year prison sentence after being convicted in August. Her case has drawn strong local and international scrutiny and is widely seen as politically motivated.
Also Read:
- 07/08/2025 – EU Condemns Mzia Amaghlobeli’s Arrest, Calls to Release ‘Unjustly Detained’
- 19/06/2025 – European Parliament Demands Journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli’s ‘Immediate’ and ‘Unconditional’ Release
- 19/06/2025 – European Parliament Debates Media Freedom in Georgia, Detained Journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli
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