Georgia's first female political prisoner in the last 30 years - this is Mzia Amaglobeli's path. From her native home in the village of Chvana, Shuakhevi, to the women's prison in Mtisdziri, Gardabani; from Aslan Abashidze's regime to Bidzina Ivanishvili's regime – the entire state vertical against one woman. Why and how is a case fabricated that was broadcast live anyway?
Mzia Amaglobeli was arrested on January 12 for slapping a police officer, but she was charged not with insult, but with assaulting a police officer. If the "charge" is proven, she faces 4 to 7 years in prison.
JUDGE: Do you plead guilty to the presented charge?
MZIA AMAGLOBELI: No, I do not plead guilty. I consider myself wrongfully imprisoned. Fortunately, dictatorship has not finally taken root in our homeland, and I believe that both I and all prisoners of conscience will be able to prove our innocence.
Chvana
Mzia Amaglobeli was born in the village of Chvana, Shuakhevi, where she spent her childhood and finished high school. She lost one of her three brothers at a young age. As a student, she took responsibility for the education of her nephews and then their children. Her family learned from the television that Mzia had declared a hunger strike from the moment of her arrest. She only stopped it after 38 days, and only after her brothers and nephews told her they would also resort to extreme forms of protest.
Batumelebi Newspaper
Twenty-four years ago, Mzia Amaglobeli, along with Eter Turadze and Tedo Jorbenadze, decided to leave Adjara PS newspaper. They envisioned journalism differently and resolved to establish a truly critical newspaper in Aslan Abashidze's Batumi. Given Abashidze's pervasive influence and unlimited power, no one expected such audacity from young journalists, and they faced no initial obstruction in founding the paper. The first issue was released on May 26, 2001.
ETER TURADZE: We didn't have a printer. We'd remove the processor and carry it to the printing house by our own bare hands on the other side of town. That's how we published the paper. The first print run was 300 copies. We couldn't maintain a consistent publication schedule, so we'd joke and say, “It comes out when it comes out”.
Every issue was filled with incriminating materials exposing the autocrat. The editorial office endured physical assaults on journalists and repeated damage to their equipment by the authorities. Eventually, Aslan Abashidze's patience wore thin, and the newspaper was shut down.
ETER TURADZE: In 2003, they shut us down because of the name. Allegedly, we stole someone's name. They used such a trick and closed us down.
Re-registration under a different name became impossible in Batumi. Thus, Newspaper Batumelebi had to be founded in Tbilisi. At that time, they weren't even aware of the existence of donors. They found them themselves – the first to respond was the Open Society Foundations, which provided them with essential equipment. The more popular the newspaper became, the more it bothered Abashidze's regime. One night, while waiting in a car near the printing house for the latest issue to be printed:
ETER TURADZE: That's when the police arrived. They said they suspected we were under the influence of narcotics and arrested us. Mzia and I were there.
On the way, the detained journalists managed to call a colleague and an embassy. When the police were forced to release them half an hour later, the media was already mobilized at the building. The Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed, "No narcotics, no arrest, the journalists were here for an interview.
ETER TURADZE: If we look at the archives, we constantly wrote about the police violating human rights, but the worst situation in the police is now. That is, now they have dared to imprison a journalist for what we do. We haven't had a jailed journalist before, much less a female jailed journalist. Even now, the same police officers we criticized back then are in office, but they didn't dare to personally decide who should be arrested under the criminal code and who should not.
The system today is the worst we have seen in our lives. The most brutal system has been created.
Much is still written on the Batumelebi page today about the brutality the police regime shows towards citizens, and often the main character of these materials is the city's chief of police, Irakli Dgebuadze.
ETER TURADZE: They are not law enforcement officers.
This is an armed group of bandits. Beselia-Dgebuadze are settling scores with critical opinion in Batumi, and they have been given this right from the highest officials.
Mzia's Arrest
Just as Aslan Abashidze lost his nerve and decided to get rid of disobedient journalists by shutting down their newspaper, the police regime, unable to tolerate it any longer, acted even more brutally this time. At Batumelebi, there is a strong suspicion that Mzia's unlawful imprisonment was retaliation for their activities. Just one month before Mzia's arrest, the head of the police department had threatened the editor of the publication. Eter Turadze was covering a protest where law enforcement officers were behaving more aggressively than usual.
The time for the threat to be carried out arrived. It was the 43rd day of continuous protests in Batumi. For 43 days, Mzia's publication had also been continuously covering the protests, but she herself usually remained in the office. On January 11, Mzia went to the protest after the police became aggressive towards peaceful demonstrators and arrested several individuals, including Mzia's colleague and friend, Tsiala Katamidze.
TSIALA KATAMIDZE: She heard that I was arrested. She decided to come to help. She couldn't imagine why we could have been arrested.
Tsiala was detained for placing a sticker on the pavement in front of the police station, despite the fact that this action is not prohibited even by the new, incredibly strict, and distorted legislation.
ETER TURADZE: She said she wouldn't leave Tsiala alone. She performed exactly the same act for which Tsiala was arrested. She took the exact same sticker from someone at the protest and put it on the auxiliary building of the police.
In the footage, Irakli Dgebuadze can be heard stating the reason for Mzia's arrest: Article 150.
Later, the police officers realized that they did not have the right to arrest a person under Article 150 and fabricated a report under Article 173, claiming that Mzia was verbally abusing the police. While the ordinary officers were fabricating the report, the head of the police, Dgebuadze, did not waste time and began to lecture the detained men. The detained women witnessed this.
TSIALA KATAMIDZE: Irakli Dgebuadze was beating Malkhaz Iremadze. Four people held Malkhaz. He punched him once in the face and the second time he slapped him so hard that I heard the sound of Malkhaz's head hitting the wall.
MALKHAZ IREMADZE: He kicked me at the door, and when he brought me in, two masked men were holding me. Everyone came out into the corridor, his employees, and he made them watch how he was hitting me. He made me hit my head against the wall. When I told him I was a teacher, he hit me twice as much.
He would go and hit the flag bearer, then come back and hit me. He made Mzia listen to this as well, and this pressure affected her.
Mzia spent approximately one hour in such a violent environment until they decided to release her due to the baselessness of her detention. At the moment Mzia was released, the protest at the police station was still ongoing but was nearing its end. Unexpectedly for the protesters, the police arrested two more people. Mzia demanded an answer from Irakli Dgebuadze regarding the arrest of her relatives, the Gabaidze brothers.
ETER TURADZE: When she slapped him, I saw it. I was shocked. Such behavior from Mzia was unexpected. She is a very composed person.
In the footage, which clearly shows Mzia being led away with only one shoe, it is also clearly audible how she is being humiliated and how Irakli Dgebuadze threatens her.
The Court
Before Almighty and Omniscient God, numerous police officers have already sworn, yet instead of speaking only the truth with full awareness and concealing nothing, they gave false testimonies one after another. This is how they explain the fact that lawyers waited a full 3 hours for permission to enter the police station after Mzia's arrest.
BERDIA PERADZE, Head of the Investigation Department of Adjara Police Department: Ms. Amaglobeli did not express a desire for a lawyer to be present or for anyone to be invited. There was no such request from her side.
After her arrest, Irakli Dgebuadze cursed at and spat on Mzia Amaglobeli. As the illegal prisoner recalls, due to Dgebuadze's prohibition, she was denied water and access to the restroom for a long time. It also took 3 hours before her family was officially notified of Mzia's arrest.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, Lawyer: What prevented you for 3 hours?
TAMAR KERESELIDZE, Senior Investigator of the Investigation Department of Adjara Police Department: We managed it in 3 hours, didn't we?!
LAWYER: Did Mzia tell you that she doesn't need a lawyer?
INVESTIGATOR: No.
LAWYER: Did she clearly, articulately tell you that she doesn't need defense in this case?
INVESTIGATOR: Yes, to our question, she said “no”.
For the public attending the court session, the extremely warm and friendly attitude of the false witnesses towards the prosecutors becomes clear – you can directly see how the accuser's witnesses wink at him.
The Charge
The core falsification in the case of the prisoner of the regime lies in the charge itself. Mzia Amaglobeli was accused of slapping someone, which initially was considered an insult. However, she was charged under Article 353, Section 1 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to attacking a police officer. This is crucial because the initial report, on which the investigation was based, explicitly stated "insult." Insult, by law, is considered only an administrative offense and is not classified as a crime at all.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer and senior partner at BLB legal company: There was only one slap, which falls under the disposition of Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. This article covers verbal insults and other insulting acts. For clarity, I often ask people, “If she had spat, what would have been worse to witness?” Everyone answers, “Spitting would have been a worse incident”. This is a classic insult, “other insulting act”, which we have in the Code of Administrative Offenses. We have submitted Mr. Atabegashvili's comment. He also says the same – the police officer was insulted. Mzia Amaglobeli is the only prisoner for insult, which is a shame for a state that claims to be civilized.
Investigator Levan Gogmachadze admitted in court that he charged Mzia with attacking a police officer in agreement with the prosecutor's office. This was the only way to keep the accused in custody.
Pre-trial Detention
Different compositions of the court deliberated on the pre-trial measure and all of them took into account the prosecution's absurd arguments that there was a risk of absconding, a risk of committing a repeated crime, and a risk that Mzia would influence witnesses, even though every single witness in the case is a police officer.
The regime genuinely anticipates a threat from Mzia Amaglobeli's freedom, and Mzia herself does not hide this:
MZIA AMAGLOBELI: If I am not in custody, I know exactly what I will do. I will not commit a crime because I am not a criminal, but I will do everything for the Euro-integration of the country and for freedom of speech and expression. I will truly do everything, and if that is a crime, then perhaps you should keep me in custody.
Judge Nino Sakhelashvili's baseless, unjust, and unsubstantiated decision was not the only reason why the political prisoner's lawyers demanded her recusal. Her education and qualifications are also debatable.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer: She confirmed that she has not passed the criminal law qualification exam and has not studied criminal law at the master's level.
On March 3 of this year, three EU countries sanctioned Judge Nino Sakhelashvili specifically for Mzia Amaglobeli's case. In return, after Mzia's arrest, the High Council of Justice appointed her as a judge for life.
Judge: I Wish You Peace!
It might be a mere coincidence that the sanctioned judge bid farewell to the public with these coded words—essentially, the Georgian Dream's pre-election slogan. The court was overtly biased towards witnesses in adhering to procedural formalities. The best example of this was the session for Grigol Beselia's questioning. The Director of the Adjara Police Department behaved in an extremely familiar manner during the several hours spent in the courtroom. He demonstrated that he felt at home. Everything about his demeanor underscored that he was not in a neutral space, but on his own territory. Apparently, it's a tradition – he, too, winked at the prosecutors and made ill-timed jokes. He often laughed without apparent reason. But the judge did not find his excessive relaxation in the courtroom strange. The judge's attention was directed towards the courtroom, which was full of Mzia's supporters.
NINO SAKHELASHVILI, Judge: You are in a courtroom where Mzia's fate is being decided.
The judge, excessively concerned with Mzia's fate, once again explained the defendant's pre-trial detention with the heightened risk of committing a new crime. This risk, in turn, was based on the episode of applying a sticker. We all saw this live on air. Mzia was arrested by Beselia. However, another police officer was listed as her arresting officer in the protocol. We all saw live that Mzia applied the sticker silently; they have no right to arrest for this at all. That's why they indicated in the protocol that she was swearing at the police officers.
GIORGI BZHALAVA, Deputy Head of Batumi Police: Shall I repeat those words? "Biches," and so on.
The false witness, who claims he arrested Mzia Amaglobeli for applying the sticker, indicated different versions of swearing in his interrogation protocols prior to the court. He claimed Mzia Amaglobeli called the police officers "dogs, pigs, slaves of Russia."
MZIA AMAGLOBELI: I am 50 years old. I simply don't know how to swear. You won't find me swearing in a closed room, in public, anywhere. So, repeat the words with which you claim I cursed you. I want to know how you see yourselves.
False Witnesses
On the day Mzia was arrested, employees of the Adjara Police claimed that all police officers had their body cameras turned off, and none of the police officer witnesses in the case remember whether there are surveillance cameras in their building. Nor do they remember whether these cameras are functioning properly. Even the head of the police himself, the so-called victim Irakli Dgebuadze, does not possess information about this.
Every single witness's testimony describes the incident in archaic Georgian and identically, raising suspicion that all the texts have a single author. For example, they state that Mzia "strongly pulled Dgebuadze, clad in his police uniform, by his jacket towards herself."
The trial has been ongoing for four months, and so far, all prosecution witnesses are police officers. It is unclear how a woman in custody could influence witnesses. This is another argument from the prosecution and the court for her pre-trial detention.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer: Mr. Dgebuadze himself, Beselia, and 5 out of the remaining 6 police officers are masked. The investigator cannot even show us in the video where each witness is standing. In the case of the attack on journalist Guram Rogava, they don't know who the masked police officer is, but in Mzia's case, they do.
The 44-Second Video
On the night of January 11-12, several media outlets provided live coverage of the ongoing protest at the Batumi police station for several hours. Activists were also livestreaming themselves. However, in Mzia Amaglobeli's case, the prosecution presented only one piece of evidence: a 44-second video from Adjara Public Broadcaster.
This 44-second video was added to the case as evidence on March 4. The preliminary hearing was presided over by Victor Metreveli. He deemed both the prosecution's sole piece of evidence and a vast amount of defense evidence inadmissible – removing 17 individuals from the list of persons to be questioned by Mzia Amaglobeli's defense, 13 inspection protocols, 18 videos, and 14 written pieces of evidence. As Mzia's lawyers state, this decision has no precedent in Georgian justice.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer: I have seen many illegal decisions, but you have now broken a record.
"This decision leaves the accused without the right to defense and contains signs of a violation of the right to a fair trial," states the amicus curiae brief prepared by the Social Justice Center.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer: The prosecution is a party and, therefore, understands where its case is struggling, but for the court to say, 'I don't even want to see it, hear it, or read it' – such a thing has never happened in my practice.
The prosecution has four pieces of evidence against Mzia Amaglobeli:
- The 44-second video;
- A medical examination report stating that Dgebuadze had no external injuries;
- The interrogation protocol of the so-called victim himself, where he states that he was slapped and it hurt;
- Testimonies of other police officers confirming that the chief's cheek turned red.
This seemingly humorous detail is, in reality, crucial. For the charge of assault to be confirmed, it is necessary for the person recognized as a victim to have been endangered in terms of health or life.
Another Slap
The testimony of the forensic medical expert delivered yet another "slap" to Dgebuadze's case.
GIVI CHKHARTISHVILI, forensic medical expert: During the forensic medical examination, Irakli Dgebuadze showed no objective signs of mechanical injury on his body, in areas not covered by clothing.
PROSECUTOR: How did he look visually when brought to you?
EXPERT: Are you asking about redness?
PROSECUTOR: Yes.
EXPERT: Redness is not an objective sign of injury. Therefore, it is not subject to my evaluation. My assessment directly focuses on the objective signs of injury.
So, I probably have redness on my face now too, but no one has hit me, right?!
PROSECUTOR: You mentioned that he complained of pain. Did he indicate why he had this pain on his face?
EXPERT: Pain is a subjective concept, a subjective complaint. Therefore, as a medical expert, I do not have the competence to evaluate it.
LAWYER: Do you have any method to determine if Mr. Dgebuadze is feigning?
EXPERT: No, as a medical expert, no.
LAWYER: So he can feign, meaning the assumption is the same, whether he's a simulator or truly in pain, right?
EXPERT: Yes, but that's not for me to decide.
LAWYER: Thank you.
After the "reddened cheek" effect failed, the police found another means in their arsenal: the sound effect.
GRIGOL BESELIA, former director of the Adjara Police Department: There was such a sound after the slap; the protest completely dispersed. I'm telling you honestly. The protest didn't even continue after that; 3-4 people remained. The protest members themselves said in private conversations, 'Forgive the lady, she was nervous and made a mistake, she didn't recognize you’.
Throughout the entire process, the former director of the Adjara Police Department reprimanded everyone who referred to Mzia Amaglobeli's action as a slap. He clearly understands that classifying this act as a criminal offense and an assault will be difficult in the eyes of the public.
GRIGOL BESELIA, former director of the Adjara Police Department: Maybe that was someone who hit the police officer. When you hit the police officer, that was different, you probably weren't there.
Mzia AMAGLOBELI: When I slapped him, it was indeed me.
Grigol Beselia: This is something new. You were the one who slapped him, but not the one who insulted the police officer.
This irony pales in comparison to what the country's political actors are demonstrating in sync with the prosecution, police, and court regarding Mzia Amaglobeli's case.
The Entire System Against One Woman
All political statements made regarding Mzia Amaglobeli's case, which repeatedly violated her presumption of innocence, were presented as evidence in court by the "regime prisoner's" lawyers. However, they met the same fate as other excluded evidence.
The party that has not missed an opportunity for four months to declare the prisoner of conscience a malefactor from the highest platforms, demands the removal of political content from the case. And since there are no facts to support this, new circumstances are fabricated along the way.
Kobakhidze
Following a statement by Irakli Kobakhidze on Rustavi 2 where he declared, "Mzia Amaglobeli is not a victim; she was fulfilling a specific order, insulting a police officer. Her assignment was to discredit the police and insult their dignity." Mzia Amaglobeli's legal defenders immediately requested that this recording be admitted as evidence in the case.
MAIA MTSARIASHVILI, lawyer: The case contains a report saying that Mzia received an assignment, and the country's Prime Minister comes out and says that Mzia received an assignment to inflict this insult on Mr. Dgebuadze. Yes, this report is in the case, it doesn't specify the source, it's known to him from somewhere, and logically, what if this source is Kobakhidze? How does the Prime Minister know what report is in the case? How does he know? I can assume that this case is being mentioned to him? Is it being coordinated with him? Coordinated before? Coordinated after? This is exactly a violation of Article 18 of the European Convention, which we have repeatedly discussed.
The sanctioned judge did not admit Kobakhidze's statement as evidence. This was predictable from the outset, just as the motivation of the Georgian Dream Prime Minister to label Mzia Amaglobeli's actions as dictated, ordered, and assigned from abroad is understandable. The point is that the law considers an act an assault only if it is committed with prior intent. Until now, the prosecution claimed that Mzia's motivation was revenge on the police officer. Irakli Kobakhidze, however, went deeper, into the "deep state."
The so-called victim cannot clearly identify the voice in the video of Mzia's arrest that curses and threatens: "I'll arrest her under a criminal code." He admits that it resembles his voice but assures that other police officers also have similar voices.
The head of the Batumi police, who is backed by the entire police system, is accused by people of numerous acts of violence and inhumane treatment. Such a person speaks to us in the name of the law.
MAIA MTSARIASHVHILI, lawyer: The entire system is working, otherwise one investigator, one police chief could not have influenced the outcome of the case to this extent. The system is operating in an orchestrated, terrible, and crude manner. Such violations of the presumption of innocence are extremely rare and will be appalling for the civilized world and the European Court of Human Rights, among others.
ETER TURADZE: We, the independent media, are being fought by the system in an orchestrated way, and all forces are gathered to restrict freedom of speech and expression.
A Fabricated Case
For a charge of assault, it is also essential to have a particularly violent, aggressive act. It must be related to the police officer's official duties. However, Mzia Amaglobeli's action— an open hand that struck Dgebuadze in the face—does not contain these elements. This is precisely why the incident, which everyone saw live on air, is full of false witnesses and falsified reports. This is why what we have been observing in the courtroom for four months resembles the fabrication of a case rather than its review.
ETER TURADZE: Everything in Mzia's case is fabricated. The entire government vertical is fighting her in an orchestrated manner. Every instrument, every institution has been used against Mzia to keep her in prison.
The case of a prisoner of the regime includes decisions from the Supreme Court of Georgia in about 20 similar cases, according to which even violent acts such as hitting a police officer on the head with a bottle, hitting them with a stone, repeatedly punching them in the face resulting in orbital and lip injuries, two police officers being beaten by four individuals, kicking them in the groin, and many others, were not classified as assault on a police officer. Meanwhile, Georgian Dream politicians, along with pro-government media, pro-government experts, and their pro-Russian, anti-liberal allies, are conducting a joint campaign through anti-Western Facebook pages and broadcasts, arguing that a slap to the face is an assault, not an administrative offense, but a criminal offense, ordered and instructed by the "deep state."
Regarding Mzia Amaglobeli's first arrest, which was nothing more than placing a sticker but was fabricated as cursing at police officers, she was fined GEL 2,000 while in custody.
The case has already been appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The complaint argues that fundamental rights under the European Convention have been violated against the political prisoner, including the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, the right to protection of private and family life, and freedom of expression. The police responded to the Young Lawyers' Association's complaint by stating that they would not back down, and within a couple of days, they drew up a new report against Mzia Amaglobeli — four months after the incident — for placing the sticker. The court will hear the new administrative case on June 9.
A Symbol of Independent Georgian Media's Resistance
In the case of Mzia Amaglobeli, we learn that in her 50 years, she has not committed a single crime, not even a minor offense. Her professional reputation is equally impeccable. From the day she decided to publish a newspaper without a printer until today, as the founder of two authoritative media outlets, Batumelebi and Netgazeti, she has never compromised on the most important thing: freedom from political influence. This is precisely why she is called the conscience of Georgian journalism, and why she has become a prisoner of conscience and a symbol of critical media in this country.
ETER TURADZE: If it weren't for Mzia, publications like Netgazeti and Batumelebi would not be what they are today. It stood on Mzia's shoulders. It was her personal burden that the publication maintained its independence. She carried this burden alone. There were many temptations and risks along this path for the standard of independence and not serving anyone's interests to slip away, but she never let go of that thread.
Mzia Amaglobeli has dedicated her entire conscious life to protecting human rights. For 30 years, she first learned and then taught others how to stand up to a dictator, and even today, from her confinement in the fifth penitentiary institution for women in the village of Mtisdziri, Gardabani Municipality, she continues to work for the democratic, European future of this country. From there, she calls on others: "Fight before it's too late.”
On January 12, Mzia Amaglobeli became a symbol of critical Georgian media, of every conscientious journalist whose only business in the profession is to slap authoritarians, state usurpers, falsifiers of elections, protocols, testimonies, enemies, and friends, and to remain a loyal guardian of their own country. The regime sees this symbolism and is punishing the entire independent critical media through Mzia. It is breaking the records of political feudal lords of previous generations and adding a new entry to the archival materials about journalists with broken spines, barely surviving or not surviving death: Mzia Amaglobeli – the first female political prisoner in the last 30 years of independent Georgian history.
Authors:
Maia Lomidze
Gela Mtivlishvili
Translated by:
Elene Devidze
