Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, attended a ceremony in Prague where Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli was presented with the Forum 2000 International Award for Courage and Responsibility.
“Congratulations to Mzia Amaglobeli, recipient of the Forum 2000 International Award. She represents Georgia’s spirit of resistance — fighting for democracy, dignity, and a European future. No prison or regime can silence a nation that has already chosen Europe,” Zurabishvili stated.
Zurabishvili’s press service says the award ceremony took place within the framework of the Forum 2000 conference, which Zurabishvili is set to officially open tomorrow alongside the President of the Czech Republic.
On 11 January 2025, Mzia Amaglobeli was first detained under administrative charges in Batumi for placing a protest sticker calling for a nationwide strike.
She was released shortly thereafter, but later the same day re-arrested on criminal charges under Article 353 of the Georgian Criminal Code, accused of assaulting a police officer (Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze).
Her lawyers and human rights groups claim the process involved abuse, including verbal insults, denial of water and toilet access, and that the initial administrative arrest was arbitrary.
