21.07.2025

Georgian authorities’ decision to seize the bank accounts of independent media Gazeti Batumelebi and Netgazeti ahead of the verdict in the criminal trial of their co-founder Mzia Amaghlobeli is another clear front in the government’s authoritarian campaign of pressure against them, IPI said today.

Gazeti Batumelebi and Netgazeti are widely respected media outlets, often reporting on human rights violations and corruption, serving the public with impartial, trustworthy news since their founding 25 years ago.

The seizure dramatically ramps up pressure on these outlets ahead of the verdict in the criminal trial against Amaghlobeli, who has been unjustly held in pretrial detention since her arrest on January 12, during which time her health and eyesight has deteriorated.

The seizure order was made on 17 July citing an unpaid tax debt. According to Batumelebi, the outlet had acknowledged the debt and had been paying it back. Prior to the seizure order, the Revenue Service informed Batumelebi that it has outstanding tax debt that must be paid within five days. The organisation formally requested a structured repayment plan, which is permitted under the Georgian Tax Code.

However, the Revenue Service rejected this request without justification and proceeded to seize the accounts, warning that the National Bureau of Enforcement may also initiate property seizures, including the confiscation of technical equipment and its office.

In a statement on its website, Batumelebi condemned the action and said the real motive “appears to be an attempt to shut down the media organisation” and that it represented “direct pressure” on Amaghlobeli to make her give up ahead of the court verdict. It added that the order had been applied in a selective and discriminatory manner, pointing out that pro-government media which owe far greater sums have not received such repayment orders.

Amaglobeli has been charged under the criminal code with attacking a police officer – a charge widely viewed as excessive and politically motivated – which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

Today, July 21, marks the penultimate court hearing in Amaglobeli’s case, after which a verdict is expected to be reached at a final court date, now slated for August 1.

The move by Georgia’s Revenue Service to place a seizure order on the online media’s bank accounts also came just days after IPI met Amaghlobeli’s colleagues from Gazeti Batumelebi and Netgazeti during a mission to Georgia by international press freedom groups to monitor a court hearing in Amaghlobeli’s case.

In its statement following the hearing, IPI said along with partners Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that the proceedings had illustrated the disproportionate and politicized nature of the charges against her. The group also expressed concerns over the dehumanizing and degrading treatment Amaglobeli endured during her arrest.

Amaglobeli’s arrest and detention are seen by many in the journalism community in Georgia as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence the independent press amidst a broader crackdown on civil society and dissent.

“We strongly condemn what is clearly a campaign by authorities against Batumelebi and Netgazeti – first with disproportionate criminal charges against their co-founder and now by seizing their bank accounts”, Amy Brouillette, IPI Director of Advocacy, said. “The IPI global network stands by Batumelebi and Netgazeti and Mzia Amaglobeli and calls on authorities to cease its campaign of harassment.”

The Media Development Investment Fund has launched a fundraiser to support Amaghlobeli’s fight for freedom. You can donate via the GoFundMe page here.

This statement was coordinated by IPI as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

30.06.2025

The IPI global network today warns of the dire state of media freedom in Georgia amid the introduction of increasingly repressive laws and ongoing attacks on the press. Each day, Georgia moves closer to becoming a fully consolidated authoritarian regime, as the ruling Georgian Dream party intensifies its efforts to erode democracy and silence independent voices.

In the last week the GD has passed legislation to make it far easier to prosecute journalists for defamation, it has imposed new restrictions on reporting from courts, and a court in Batumi has extended the detention of Mzia Amaglobeli despite medical reports that her vision has deteriorated dangerously while in prison.

The international community, particularly the European Union, has a duty to act now to denounce and exert effective pressure on the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party, the leaders of institutions and judges responsible for the crackdown on both media and civil society.

Repressive new legislation

On June 26, the Georgian Dream parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression in the third reading.  The amendments are being fast-tracked before the one-party legislature concludes its spring session on June 27.

The bill redefines defamation as “a statement containing a substantially false fact and one that damages a person’s reputation,” omitting the current clause’s reference that such a statement must “inflict harm” to be considered defamatory. The amendments shift the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant or  the person accused of making the allegedly defamatory statement, who must now justify why the statement was not defamatory.

The legislation expands the scope of public insult offences and repeals key safeguards, including protections for journalists acting in good faith, reporting in the public interest, or refusing to disclose confidential sources or professional secrets. The law would allow courts to impose financial compensation for both material and moral damages, even where a retraction or apology has been issued.

The legislative changes would also allow the government to retroactively prosecute people over statements or comments made up to 100 days before the bill’s enactment. During the parliamentary discussion, ruling party MP Tea Tsulukiani called for an even harsher approach — adding defamation back in the criminal code.

These amendments erode fundamental legal protections for journalism by eliminating source confidentiality, fostering self-censorship, and obstructing investigative reporting. These combined changes threaten the very foundations of independent journalism in Georgia.

Obstructions for court reporting

On June 26, the Parliament also adopted draft amendments to the Organic Law on Common Courts that would significantly restrict journalists’ ability to report from court premises. Once the law comes into effect after being signed by the GD elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili, filming will be prohibited inside court buildings, including courtrooms, hallways and courtyards.

Previously, Georgia’s Public Broadcaster, which has long been a mouthpiece for the GD party, was permitted to film inside courtrooms, with an obligation to share content with other media outlets. If it failed to do so, other broadcasters were permitted to step in. This framework will be repealed under the draft amendments.

The law also abolishes additional provisions that currently permit journalists to record in courthouse corridors and courtyards and protect against the confiscation of recording devices.

Georgian Dream introduced the draft law amid the ongoing trials of individuals arrested during anti-government protests in Georgia, including Mzia Amaglobeli. The hearings have been widely covered by independent and government-critical media.

By adopting these amendments in a fast-tracked manner, along with other recently adopted laws and the ongoing impunity for crimes against journalists, GD is slowly suffocating the space for quality independent journalism.

Mzia Amaglobeli remains behind bars

In the same week, on June 23, the Batumi City Court ruled to keep journalist and media director Mzia Amaglobeli in pre-trial detention, rejecting a motion from her defense team to replace imprisonment with a milder preventive measure. Judge Nino Sakhelashvili cited a ‘high risk of reoffending’ as the justification for continued detention.

Amaglobeli’s health has further deteriorated in prison. Medical examinations conducted on February 4 and 6 during her hunger strike revealed a sharp decline: vision in her right eye had dropped from 30% to 10%, while her left eye retained only about 4% vision, limited to light perception. An outspoken regime critic, Amaglobeli faces charges of assaulting a police officer — carrying up to seven years in prison — following an altercation with Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze. Amaglobeli’s arrest is widely viewed as retaliation for her journalistic work.

Resilience despite repression

In the last few years, GD has intensified repression of the media, independent journalists have demonstrated exemplary resilience. Media workers have been beaten, harassed, detained, jailed, smeared, fined and still continued their work.

Despite such resilience, in the absence of a robust system of checks and balances, legal protections and independent democratic institutions, amid explicit hostility and a climate of fear, independent journalism is increasingly unlikely to survive in Georgia.

The new wave of legal oppression is unfolding in parallel with massive arrests of government critics, including leaders of opposition parties. Over the past month, the Georgian Dream government has jailed seven opposition leaders, a former defense minister and a former member of the United National Movement (UNM) party.

The adoption of repressive, undemocratic and illiberal legislation, along with widespread political persecution, is unfolding at an unprecedented scale in Georgia—an EU candidate country once widely considered as a beacon of democracy in the South Caucasus. The GD is increasingly relying on the Russian authoritarian playbook to silence critics, undermine human rights and dismantle democratic institutions.

The erosion of  civil liberties at an extraordinary pace in Georgia also poses a serious threat  to democracy in the region, where far-right and populism are on the rise and illiberal and authoritarian regimes are increasingly gaining ground.

While the Georgian Dream attempts to consolidate authoritarian rule in a matter of months, the international community must urgently respond. We renew our call on the European Union and its member states to step up pressure on Georgia and stem the rapid descent into authoritarianism. The effective pressure must be applied to not only the Georgian Dream officials but every decision maker as well as judges, responsible for this crackdown on media, capture of the public broadcaster and ongoing impunity for crimes against journalists.

We also renew our  call on the GD party to repeal repressive laws, including the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and recent amendments to the Law on Broadcasting and the Law on Grants. We further urge the Georgian Dream-led parliament to withdraw the recently adopted amendments to the Law on Freedom of  Expression, as well as the amendments restricting media coverage of court proceedings.

We reiterate our call for the release of unjustly jailed veteran Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, who has become a symbol of the resilience of Georgian media.

This statement by IPI is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

17.06.2025

As the ruling Georgian Dream party intensifies efforts to consolidate authoritarian rule, independent media face unprecedented pressure and are now on the brink of survival. Journalists are increasingly subjected to detentions, physical attacks, arbitrary fines, censorship, as well as financial and institutional repression.

We, the undersigned international media freedom, journalists’, and human rights organisations, renew our call on the international community, especially the European Union (EU), to exert effective pressure on the Georgian Dream ruling party to end the suppression of independent journalism and to uphold democratic principles and media freedom. We further reiterate our full solidarity with Georgian journalists, who, despite mounting pressure, refuse to be silenced.

In recent months, the Georgian Dream party has enacted several repressive pieces of legislation, including the new Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as amendments to the Law on Grants and the Law of Broadcasting.

As a result, directors of media and CSOs now risk criminal prosecution if the state alleges they acted on behalf of “foreign principals” [1] and deliberately failed to register. Furthermore, NGOs and media organisations are required to obtain “the consent of the government or an authorised person/body designated by the government” before receiving any grants from outside Georgia. Even the provision of free training to journalists by international organisations is expected to be ruled a breach of the law.

Independent media in Georgia may only have months left before they are forced to close, depriving the public of independent news.

Using the new amendments to the law on broadcasting, the authorities have already filed complaints against Formula TV and TV Pirveli with the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC).

These complaints object to the broadcasters’ use of terms such as “illegitimate Parliament,” “illegitimate government,” “oligarchic regime,” or “regime prisoners”. Formula TV and TV Pirveli now face possible sanctions ranging from public or written warnings and content correction, to imposing fines or ultimately removing licences.

This represents a clear attempt by the Georgian Dream party to impose strict censorship and silence independent media.

Additionally, journalists covering protests have been subjected to heavy fines in recent months. Mapping Media Freedom data records 28 journalists fined 5,000 Lari (approximately EUR 1,600) for “blocking the road” since November 28, while covering pro-European rallies in Tbilisi.  Some journalists have been fined multiple times.

The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has long served as an instrument of the Georgian Dream government, suppressing efforts by journalists seeking to report free of political control. Recently, the GPB management fired journalists Vasil Ivanov Chikovani and Nino Zautashvili after they spoke out about political interference at the broadcaster, and subsequently shut down “The Real Space,” the talk show hosted by Zautashvili.

Meanwhile, Mzia Amaglobeli, a veteran Georgian journalist and the founder and director of two of the country’s most prominent independent media organisations, has been unjustly held in pre-trial detention since her arrest in early January. According to Mapping Media Freedom data, at least 13 journalists have been detained since November 28 on various charges. Since that date, 246 journalists have been subjected to attacks including physical harassment, smear campaigns, obstruction of work, legal harassment, and fines.

The crackdown on media freedom is unfolding against the backdrop of a rapid and systematic dismantling of the rule of law and democratic freedoms.

Without sustained international pressure on both Georgian Dream officials and the leaders of institutions responsible for the media crackdown, independent journalism in Georgia cannot survive.

This dismantling of media freedom, democratic freedoms and journalists rights in Georgia, amid rising authoritarianism and a shift in Georgia’s geopolitical direction has wider implications for democracy in the region. We urge the international community to place effective pressure on Georgia and to support independent journalism in the country. We call on the Georgian Dream ruling party to end its assault on the media, repeal repressive legislation and immediately release Mzia Amaglobeli.

[1]: The list of those who can qualify as “foreign principals” ranges from foreign governments, organisations, and companies to foreign individuals or Georgian citizens who are not permanently residing in Georgia. 

This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.