Today, September 4, the lawyers of journalist and founding CEO of independent Georgian online media outlets Batumelebi.ge and Netgazeti.ge, Mzia Amaglobeli filed an appeal with the Criminal Cases Chamber of the Kutaisi Court of Appeals.
Mzia Amaglobeli’s lawyers are challenging the verdict delivered on August 6 by the Batumi City Court, which sentenced her to two years in prison.
“The appealed verdict is unlawful, unfounded, and extremely formulaic. It in no way reflects the results of the examination of evidence during the hearings, nor does it address any of the defense’s arguments. It does not evaluate any of the defense’s evidence, nor respond to any of the points raised by the defense.
The judgment is so unsubstantiated, both factually and legally, that it creates the impression it was written either by someone who did not attend the hearings over the five months of proceedings, or who was present but simply did not listen. Accordingly, nothing raised, argued, or substantiated by the defense — including in its closing statement — was analyzed or assessed.
The appealed judgment completely disregards the defense, the right to defense, and the defendant’s participation in presenting evidence, examining evidence, challenging the prosecution’s evidence, as well as the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of arms.
The judgment is proof that Mzia Amaglobeli was denied her constitutional right to a fair trial,” – reads the appeal signed by Amaglobeli’s lawyers: Maia Mtsariashvili, Senior Partner at BLB Law Firm, Jumber Katamadze, and Razhden Khimshiashvili.
According to the lawyers, Judge Nino Sakhelashvili also violated the statutory time limits for delivering the judgment to the parties.
“The case was neither complex, nor voluminous, nor did it involve multiple defendants. Nonetheless, the court failed to deliver the judgment within the 5-day statutory deadline, and further violated the extended 14-day deadline.
We were only handed the judgment on August 25, 2025, in breach of the law, which in turn shortened the legally guaranteed period for filing an appeal,” Amaglobeli’s lawyers stated.
On August 6, Batumi City Court Judge Nino Sakhelashvili sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli to two years in prison for slapping the head of Batumi police, Irakli Dgebuadze.
The judge reclassified the charge.
Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office had charged Amaglobeli under Article 353¹ of the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of 4 to 7 years’ imprisonment. Judge Sakhelashvili reclassified the charge to Article 353, Part 1 of the Criminal Code.
