Mzia Amaglobeli Must Be Released Immediately - European Parliament Resolution

• “Mzia Amaglobeli is being punished for exposing corruption and reporting on election fraud during the 2024 elections;
• In Mzia Amaglobeli’s case, the authorities ignored procedural safeguards, imposed pre-trial detention without a clear legal basis, contested by the Public Defender;
• Mzia Amaglobeli reportedly suffered inhumane treatment and undertook a 38-day hunger strike;
• Estonia and Lithuania have imposed personal sanctions on Georgian judges and police officers linked to Mzia Amaglobeli’s case,” the resolution states.

According to the European Parliament, the adoption of draconian legislation – such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, Code of Administrative Offences and Law on Grants – constitutes a dangerous acceleration of democratic backsliding and deliberate authoritarian strategy by Georgian Dream to silence critical voices in civil society and independent media and persecute the political opposition;

“The authorities have virtually annihilated remaining independent media outlets in the country; The public information space is fully dominated by pro-government media, spreading Russian-style propaganda and anti-European disinformation”. The European Parliament strongly condemns the Georgian Dream regime’s systemic assault on democratic institutions, political opposition, independent media, civil society and judicial independence.

The European Parliament expresses deep concern over arbitrary detentions and the harassment of, and violence against, journalists in Georgia, including smear campaigns, legal persecution, abuse and gender-based violence in detention; calls for independent investigations and urges the authorities to immediately end intimidation and ensure journalists’ safety and freedom;

Furthermore, the European Parliament urges the Georgian authorities to release all political prisoners and other illegally detained persons without delay, including activist Mate Devidze, opposition leaders Zurab Japaridze, Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia, and former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The resolution passed with 324 votes in favor, 25 against, and 87 abstentions, out of 436 deputies present.

According to the amendment, the European Parliament expresses concern about the latest wave of assault on NGOs, through the demand by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, to provide detailed financial, legal and operational information for the last one and a half years within three working days.

The European Parliament underscores that this demand is unfeasible by design and as such risks paralysing the work of targeted organisations and suspending their activities.

Georgian Dream has repeatedly stated since 2022 that the European Parliament's resolutions are worthless.

Prior to the vote, debates were held in the European Parliament on media freedom in Georgia, particularly regarding Mzia Amaglobeli's case.

MEP Rasa Juknevičienė: “Journalist Mzia Amaglobeli has become a symbol of all Georgians imprisoned by the Bidzina Ivanishvili regime. A week ago, representatives of brave Georgians, who have been fighting for a European Georgia for over 200 days, attended the DROI Subcommittee hearings in the European Parliament. But yesterday, the Russian oligarch Ivanishvili's regime launched a full-scale legal assault against them.

The situation is getting worse every day. My speech this time will not be about the regime of the Kremlin's friends in Tbilisi. We have said everything about this in the resolutions adopted so far. We need to talk about us, the EU.

I do not understand the silence from the European Council, the Member States and the High Representative office. Mzia and her friends deserve respect and help. Serious sanctions against the regime are needed. Everyone who gets their hands dirty is afraid of them. We need to put pressure on the regime in every way and not ask them to return to the EU path anymore.

They will not return, because this regime is the Kremlin's dream. They lied to their people about their aspirations to the EU, they lied to us in the European Parliament and EU. Only new fair elections can help Georgians get their country back. EU political will is needed. There is almost no independent media left in Georgia, only Sputnik-type propaganda TV channels.

By the way, I do not understand why they, who spread poison about the EU, are still active here, in the European Parliament.

Let's act. The people of Georgia cannot be left alone”.

MEP Tobias Cremer: “Media freedom is not a luxury, it is a democratic necessity. It shines light where corruption and autocracy hide. And that is precisely why the Georgian authorities have imprisoned one of the country's most respected journalists, Mzia Amaglobeli, for over 150 days now.

And Mzia's is not an isolated case. Over 400 Georgians – journalists, opposition figures, but also ordinary citizens – have been arrested, tortured or jailed.

Colleagues, the ruling Georgian Dream party fears the free press like a vampire fears the light, because they know that they can only survive in the shadows. In the shadow of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who does not dare to step into the open because he knows the Georgians don't want him, and in the shadow of Putin's regime, which uses disinformation, intimidation and manipulation, because it knows that Georgians would never choose to live like Russians have to if they have the free vote.

Colleagues, the light of a free press and a free society is the strongest weapon against tyranny, so we can only appeal to the Georgian authorities to step out of the shadows, drop the politically motivated charges and let Georgian people choose their future freely – in the light”.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation: "As many of you have said, the situation in Georgia is deteriorating at an alarming rate and Georgian Dream is moving away from democratic norms.

In recent months, journalists, civil activists, and opposition voices have faced harassment, intimidation, and politically motivated persecution. Young demonstrators receive disproportionately harsh sentences. Independent media and political critics are dragged through the courts – a tactic clearly designed to silence dissenting voices and restrict democratic space.

This is not the behavior that we, the European Union, and, more importantly, the citizens of Georgia, expect from a country that seeks to join the European Union...

Georgia's European path remains open, but the Georgian authorities must choose to work on it.

Media freedom is also under great threat. Representatives of independent media are targeted simply for telling the truth and giving a voice to the voiceless.

Mzia Amaglobeli is one such journalist, imprisoned for her commitment to truth and justice. Her case is a symbol of the restriction of the space for free expression. This is unacceptable in a country that strives for EU membership, and we call for her release.

Independent journalism and broadcasting are vital not only to expose injustice but also to counter the growing wave of disinformation about the EU spread by those in power. We stand firmly with Georgia's independent media. The European Union remains ready to take measures to hold human rights violators in Georgia accountable."