Kutaisi Court of Appeals upholds two-year prison sentence for media manager Amaghlobeli

The Kutaisi Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the two-year prison sentence of Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder of independent media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti.

The panel of judges left the initial verdict unchanged.

Amaghlobeli told the court she fears not imprisonment itself, but the state of the country she may encounter upon release - “a nation fighting for freedom, or a country occupied without tanks”.

While the session was underway, colleagues and supporters gathered outside the courthouse in solidarity. Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, attended the hearing.

The appeal proceedings began on November 11. Amaghlobeli’s lawyers challenged the August 6 ruling issued by Batumi City Court, which sentenced the media manager to two years in prison.

The charges against her stem from the night of January 11-12, during anti-government protests in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi. She was initially detained under administrative law and quickly released - only to be re-arrested minutes later on criminal charges.

She has been charged under Article 353^1 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which relates to assaulting a police officer - an offence that carries a potential prison sentence of four to seven years.