Georgia / Europe & Central Asia

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 Amaghlobeli. Police arrested Amaghlobeli, director of the independent media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, on January 11 following an altercation with a local police chief. She was charged…

New York, February 7, 2025 – In Georgia, resurgent protests demanding new elections have been met with a violent police crackdown in which authorities forcefully obstructed or assaulted more than a dozen journalists covering the demonstrations. Protests against the Georgian Dream party’s disputed October election victory and the November suspension of European Union accession talks…

New York, January 17, 2025–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to release reporter Guram Murvanidze and to investigate whether Mzia Amaghlobeli is facing retaliatory charges because of her journalism.    Amaghlobeli, founder and director of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, and Murvanidze, also from Batumelebi, were arrested in the western city of Batumi on January 11 during protests calling for a re-run…

New York, December 9, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to conduct a full investigation after more than a dozen masked individuals assaulted a camera crew with pro-opposition broadcaster TV Pirveli during a live December 7 broadcast covering the ongoing pro-EU protests. “The masked attack on TV Pirveli reporter Maka…

New York, December 4, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to hold police officers accountable and ensure journalists’ safety following multiple reports of least 50 journalists injured during violent police dispersals of pro-European Union demonstrations between November 28 and December 3. “The protection of journalists is a hallmark of democratic…

New York, November 27, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgia’s Parliament to lift all restrictions on journalists’ entry into the parliament building, introduced on November 25 amid widespread protests against alleged fraud in the country’s October parliamentary elections. “At a crucial juncture in Georgia’s history, steps to restrict journalists’ access to Parliament are concerning and threaten to…

New York, November 20, 2024—Local rights groups recorded at least four incidents of police assaulting or obstructing journalists covering a November 19 election protest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.  Georgian opposition parties have alleged fraud and are protesting the results of the October 26 parliamentary election, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday, October 25, joined eight partner organizations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists and members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium in issuing a report on the state of Georgia’s press freedom ahead of the country’s pivotal October 26 election. The report, which follows…

UPDATE: In the Georgia election held October 26, the ruling Georgian Dream party declared itself the winner, but the opposing coalition is disputing those results, claiming fraud. Georgia’s president, and European and U.S. officials, have called for an investigation. On October 26, Georgia heads into what is widely viewed as its most critical election since independence from the Soviet Union in…

On October 1-2, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight partner organizations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists and members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium on a fact-finding mission to Georgia, ahead of the country’s October 26 parliamentary elections. The mission met with civil…