The trial and conviction of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli violated her right to a fair trial and constituted an abuse of process, the Clooney Foundation for Justice asserted in a new TrialWatch Fairness Report released today.
Amaglobeli, who was arrested one year ago this week, is the co-founder of the independent Georgian media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti and this year’s recipient of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Her prosecution is particularly alarming as it comes amid an ongoing deterioration of press freedom and judicial independence in Georgia under the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party.
TrialWatch monitored Amaglobeli’s trial at the Batumi City Court, which heard charges against her for an altercation with a policeman in January 2025. She spent seven months in pretrial detention before ultimately being sentenced to two years in prison in August 2025, with the charges reclassified on the day the judgment was handed down. She remains behind bars today.
“The criminal proceedings against Mzia Amaglobeli disclosed numerous violations of international human rights standards, which seriously undermined the fairness of her detention and trial and her conviction for an offence for which she had not been charged,” said Sir Nicolas Bratza, British jurist, former President of the European Court of Human Rights, and the TrialWatch expert on the report who assigned the trial a grade D.
Prepared with TrialWatch’s pro bono partner Covington & Burling LLP, the report details serious flaws in the proceedings, including the court’s refusal to admit important defense evidence and witnesses and Amaglobeli’s confinement in a glass “aquarium” that limited communication with counsel and thereby impaired her ability to participate in her defense.
The report also underscores that the sudden reclassification of charges left Amaglobeli with no meaningful opportunity to defend herself against the new elements of the crime of which she was ultimately convicted. Furthermore, the trial judgment failed to provide adequate reasons for the conviction and custodial sentence, a requirement under international law.
These failings––which were not cured by the proceedings on appeal before the Kutaisi Court of Appeal––evidence an abuse of process—namely, an intention to make an example of one of the most respected independent journalists in Georgia, in order to intimidate other dissenting voices. Prejudicial public statements by senior Georgian officials, including the Prime Minister, had already breached Amaglobeli’s right to the presumption of innocence.
With the case now expected to be appealed to Georgia’s Supreme Court, TrialWatch urges the authorities to overturn Amaglobeli’s conviction, release her immediately, and ensure that the courts operate free from political influence.
You can download the report here.
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