Georgian police arrested another prominent opposition activist on Saturday night, media with links to the country’s opposition reported.
The official reason for Amaglobeli's arrest is “assault on a police officer”. However, her legal representatives stated they have not yet received formal notification of the charges.
Amaglobeli was detained twice that night in front of the Batumi’s main police station. The first arrest was for putting up posters calling for a nationwide strike.
After almost two hours, she was released from custody but remained at the police station as her supporters gathered there to protest her detention.⭕️Mzia Amaglobeli, co-founder and CEO of Gazeti Batumelebi - an independent media organization running two online outlets, @netgazeti and @Batumelebi_ge - putting up a poster before being arrested.
— ბათუმელები • Batumelebi.ge (@Batumelebi_ge) January 11, 2025
"Oh, girl, don't do it," someone can be heard saying.#GeorgiaProtests pic.twitter.com/wP4cKezP3j
During a scuffle that broke out, Amaglobeli has reportedly struck the chief of the city’s police, which she herself said was not intentional.
Under Georgian law, assaulting a police officer is punishable by four to seven years in prison.⭕️Founder and CEO of Gazeti Batumelebi, an independent media organization operating the online outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, @MAmaghlobeli, has been arrested for the second time within approximately two hours, in #Batumi.#GeorgiaProtests pic.twitter.com/YPqzrez2Dq
— ბათუმელები • Batumelebi.ge (@Batumelebi_ge) January 11, 2025
Arrests and reports of police brutality as Georgians protest presidential inauguration
Amaglobeli filed a complaint about mistreatment by the police.
Georgian media, including Georgian Times, said that Amaglobeli had previously faced harassment due to her public activities and that the publications she founded are widely respected.
Amaglobeli’s lawyers said that several other individuals involved in activism were also detained that night. In some cases, detainees reported mistreatment and verbal abuse. In most instances, the reasons for the arrests were not provided, nor were the arrested informed of their rights.
Since November, protests have been ongoing in Georgia following irregularities in the parliamentary elections held on October 26. Official results, contested by the local opposition and much of the international community, handed the victory to the ruling Georgian Dream party, which advocates closer ties with Russia and delaying EU integration.
One of the new government’s first decisions was to suspend negotiations on Georgia’s EU accession until 2028.
