The Committee to Protect Journalists on February 20 joined dozens of press freedom and journalists’ organizations in calling on Georgian authorities to immediately release jailed media manager Mzia Amaglobeli.
Police arrested Amaglobeli, director of the independent media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, on January 12 following an altercation with a local police chief. She was charged with attacking a police officer, which is widely seen as disproportionate and as retaliation for her journalism. If convicted, she faces a minimum four-year prison term.
Amaglobeli went on a hunger strike following her arrest, but ended it after 38 days as doctors warned that her life was in danger.
Press freedom has sharply declined in Georgia in recent months under the ruling Georgian Dream party. Dozens of journalists covering mass anti-government protests have been violently obstructed or beaten by police, while authorities have enacted a “foreign agent” law targeting the press.
Read the full statement here.
Editor’s note: This text has been updated to correct the spelling of Amaglobeli’s name and the date of her arrest.