‘Being a journalist in Georgia today means paying a price’, arrested media manager Amaglobeli in letter for Václav Havel Prize ceremony

Arrested Georgian media manager Mzia Amaglobeli has warned that practicing journalism in Georgia today “comes at great personal risk.”

Her statement was read by her lawyer, Maia Mtsariashvili, at the opening of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) autumn session in Strasbourg, where the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2025 was awarded.

Amaglobeli, a finalist for the prize, said journalists in Georgia faced harassment, intimidation, and physical attacks, and that new laws had severely restricted press freedom, likening them to measures used in Russia.

She called on European institutions and the international community not to leave Georgian journalists “alone facing Russia” and highlighted the ongoing protests reflecting citizens’ fight for democracy and a European future.

The main prize went to Ukrainian journalist Maksym Butkevych, while Azerbaijani journalist Ulvi Hasanli was also among the finalists.