The journalist prison in Georgia due to protests against the government loyal to Russia is deteriorating 3 weeks in the hunger strike

Tbilisi, Georgia – Her lawyer says that the recruited journalist Mizia Amglobelli weakens every day, as her hunger strike has reached three weeks in Rostavi, a town near the Georgian capital of Blissi. Now a 49 -year -old girl faces difficulty walking a short distance from her cell to the room where they usually meet, and human rights officials, colleagues and family are afraid of her life.

Amaglobeli was arrested on January 12th during Anti -government protest In the coastal city of Batumi, one of more than 40 people in detention on criminal charges from a series of demonstrations that have struck the southern Caucasus, which amounted to 3.7 million in recent months.

Political turmoil follows parliamentary elections won by the ruling Georgian Dreams Party, although its opponents claim that the vote has been forged.

Its results led Georgia to the orbit of Russia’s influence. Georgia aspires to join the European Union, but the party taught to join the bloc after the elections.

Since it sought to strengthen its grip on power, the Georgian dream has taken freedom of assembly and expression in what the opposition says is similar to the president Vladimir Putin’s actions in neighboring RussiaIts ex -empire’s ruler.

Prime Minister Irkli Cobachides defended the actions of his government, accusing the demonstrators of seeking to “harm the country” and try to organize an uprising revolution in Ukraine in 2014 that toppled a supporter of Kremlin.

Last year, the Georgian dream adopted a series of laws similar to laws in Russia imposing restrictions on rights groups and media and the extreme limit of LGBTQ+. These laws, condemned by the European Union, have drawn protests.

The former President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, an independent politician, was among the most vocal critics of the Georgian dream, accused of interfering in the elections and describing the elections last year as “complete fraud.” According to Reuters, two groups of international voting in the United States agreed to this evaluation, describing the statistically impossible results.

On December 3, 2024, the Georgia Constitutional Court refused to invite Zurabishvili to cancel the results of the parliamentary elections, which exacerbated tension in the streets. She was expelled at the end of 2024 in light of the new parliament mechanisms that were brought under the leadership of Copechids, leaving the presidential palace, but she refused to recognize her unacceptable successor as a legitimate president of the country.

Russia opposes a firm belief in many of the aspirations of the Georgians to see their country joining both the European Union and the US -led military alliance, and has benefited from its economic and political impact alike to try to prevent the country from compatible with Western institutions. Russia Georgia invaded in 2008 And it continues to Occupy South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.

In an interview with 60 minutes of last yearZurabishvili accused Russia of hidden efforts, but it is influencing the influence of Georgian policy, describing it as part of a broader “hybrid war” by Moscow against the West. She said that Russia’s tactics included publishing misleading information, practicing economic pressure and manipulating internal policy to prevent Georgia from fully integrated with its European neighbors to the West.

Amaglobeli, the founder of two prominent independent media in Georgia, face charges of assaulting a police officer, with a possible prison sentence for up to seven years.

Many detainees by the police reported that they were physically and verbally abused by the police or while they were detention. International human rights groups appear to be alarm.

“All this draws a picture of an aggressive campaign to stop these demonstrations that were the great majority of it,” said Alice Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and other harsh, inhuman or humiliating treatment. Associated Press.

A video released by the media police chief Batome in protest showed. Witnesses and their lawyers say that the police had offended her in advance, and the slap of her reaction was.

The abuse continued during her detention, when “the police chief spas on the face of Mazza and deprived her of reaching drinking water or using the toilet,” her lawyer, Juba Skarolides, told AP.

The lawyer said the authorities were investigating the accusations. The Ministry of Interior did not respond to AP request for comment.

Copakids said that the authorities will investigate any excessive use of strength, but in the case of Amaghlobeli, her actions were “in front of the cameras.”

“This crime is very clear,” the Prime Minister said.

Amaglobeli, which established the independent media sites Batumlebi and NetGazeti, began a hunger blow to protest, and now the defenders of Georgian and Western rights say her life is in danger.

“The status of Amaglobeli” requires an urgent procedure. “

“This is not just a issue of freedom and imprisonment – this is a matter of life and death. I strongly hope that the authorities will act at the necessary speed in this very difficult situation,” Oflaharty was reported by the port by saying.

Netgazeti, Netgazeti editor, said that the arrest of Amaglobeli had a chilling effect on other journalists.

“If this is the way they deal with the founder of the most prominent independent media, and a director and media director free of any political effects and influential groups, others can be dealt with in the same way or even worse.”

And Andrew Chichenads, theater and films actor. Chicenzdi, 28, actively participated in the protests prepared in November.

The police raided his home and arrested him on December 5, and faced charges of “participating in collective violence”, who were punished with imprisonment for up to nine years.

His lawyers say that the prosecutors have videos about Cichinsenads, swinging a stick and throwing a bottle, claiming that it was thrown by the police. They also say that there is no evidence that he hit anyone and no one has made a victim of his alleged violence.

Chichenads denied these accusations. In a detainage session before the trial, he compared himself to “the Kafka character who was in a trial and was unable to know what is happening to him.”

His mother, Lehman Ghanadzi, described the issue against her son “ridiculous, just ridiculous” in an interview with AP.

More arrests – so far with the simple “administrative” charges that are punishable by fines or short tasks in prison – during the weekend, during the ongoing demonstrations in Tbilisi. On Monday, the police said that a total of 31 people were arrested.

According to media reports, some of them were released shortly after. Many reported physical abuse by the police while they were arrested, and after being transferred to police trucks, according to the General Defoner Office in Georgia, who is the Secretary of Grievances in Human Rights, is elected by Parliament.

The Georgian dream announced the two plans to adopt a more severe sentence on both criminal and administrative crimes that demonstrators can accuse, including increasing prison time, higher fines and prison terms.

Ika Giguri, Executive Director of Georgia, AP, told the government that the government “uses the Russian and Belarusian play book” to target government opponents.

“There is nothing new on how civil activists attack,” she said. “This was happening in Russia years ago.”

Andrew Chichenads’s mother, the arrested actor, chanted this feeling in describing the campaign that followed Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.

“We have chosen Europe and moved to Russia,” said Likta Junzzaz.