Media development foundation representative given four days in jail after protest

A court in Georgia has sentenced a representative of the Media Development Foundation (MDF), Zviad Mzhavanadze, to four days in administrative detention.

The organisation on Monday said the ruling was delivered on 9 March after Mzhavanadze was detained during a protest.

The organisation said the court imposed the four-day sentence because he was standing on a pavement during the demonstration.

The foundation described the decision as part of legislative changes that it said restrict civil activism and protest. Those changes, it added, have been challenged at the Constitutional Court of Georgia.

In its statement, the organisation said Mzhavanadze is “an active citizen who understands the value of a free society and fights to defend this freedom”.

The Media Development Foundation also expressed solidarity with its colleague following the court’s decision.