A Russia-like crackdown has jailed dozens in Georgia, with human rights groups sounding the alarm
Jailed journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli gets weaker every day as her hunger strike has reached three weeks in Rustavi, a town near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, her lawyer says.
Now the 49-year-old is having difficulty walking the short distance from her cell to the room where they usually meet, and human rights officials, colleagues and family fear for her life.
Amaghlobeli was arrested Jan. 12 during an anti-government protest in the coastal city of Batumi, one of over 40 people in custody on criminal charges from a series of demonstrations that have hit the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million in recent months.
The political turmoil follows a parliamentary election that was won by the ruling Georgian Dream party, although its opponents allege the vote was rigged.
Its outcome pushed Georgia further into Russia’s orbit of influence. Georgia aspired to join the European Union, but the party suspended accession talks with the bloc after the election.
As it sought to cement its grip on power, Georgian Dream has cracked down on freedom of assembly and expression in what the opposition says is similar to President Vladimir Putin’s actions in neighboring Russia, its former imperial ruler.
Accusations of fomenting revolution
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze defended the actions of his government, accusing the protesters of seeking “to inflict harm on the state” and trying to stage a revolution akin to the uprising in Ukraine in 2014 that ousted a pro-Kremlin leader.
Georgian Dream last year adopted a series of laws similar to ones in Russia imposing restrictions on rights groups and media outlets and severely curtailing LGBTQ+ rights. Those laws, condemned by the EU, also drew protests.
Amaghlobeli, founder of two prominent independent media outlets in Georgia, faces charges of assaulting a police officer, with a possible prison sentence of up to seven years.
Many of those detained by police have reported being abused physically and verbally by police or while in detention. International human rights groups are sounding the alarm.
“All of that paints a picture of an aggressive campaign to halt these demonstrations of which the large majority are reported to have been peaceful,” Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, told The Associated Press.
Allegations of abuse in custody
A video released by the media showed Amaghlobeli slapping Batumi’s police chief in the protest. Witnesses and her lawyers say police physically and verbally abused her beforehand, and the slap was her reaction to it.
