US Congressman Joe Wilson slams Georgian Gov't over journalist’s sentencing

US Congressman Joe Wilson, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has condemned the sentencing of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, calling the decision “wrong” and labeling the ruling Georgian Dream party an “anti-American regime.”

In a post on X, Wilson wrote:

“The anti-American Georgian Dream regime has wrongly sentenced journalist Mzia Amaglibeli to two years in prison. The regime is banning freedom of speech and opposition parties in order to further its goal of selling the country to Communist China. MEGOBARI needed!!”

Wilson’s statement comes amid a controversial ruling by Batumi City Court on Wednesday, where Judge Nino Sakhelashvili reclassified charges against Amaglobeli and issued a two-year custodial sentence.

Amaglobeli, founder and director of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was initially charged under Article 353¹ of Georgia’s Criminal Code for allegedly assaulting a police officer during a protest in Batumi in January 2024. The original charge carried a potential sentence of four to seven years in prison.

In a surprise move during the verdict hearing, the judge downgraded the charge to Article 353 – a lesser offence relating to resisting or threatening law enforcement – which allows for penalties ranging from a fine to up to five years in prison. Despite the downgrade, Amaglobeli received a two-year prison term.

Her lawyer, Maia Mtsariashvili, condemned the decision as politically motivated and legally unsubstantiated. “The system failed to prove either an attack on police or the new charge it substituted,” she said. “This was not a ruling; it was a punishment — a statement that this person is being penalised for political non-conformity.”