The intensity of repressions in Batumi significantly increased during January 11-15. Law enforcement agencies detained dozens of peaceful protesters, including the director of the online newspaper Batumelebi, Mzia Amaghlobeli, and the operator of the same newspaper, Guram Murvanidze. In several cases, detentions were carried out because of the distribution of information stickers about the January 15 strike. According to the information published by the Public Defender, 5 of the detainees indicated ill-treatment by the police. Mzia Amaghlobeli, after being released from administrative detention, was detained under criminal procedure a few minutes later.

On January 14, the Batumi City Court imposed administrative imprisonment to 8 detainees for 5, 8, and 12 days. Among them was the "bannerman" of the Batumi protest, Temur Katamadze, who was detained once again on January 16 under immigration legislation and faces the threat of expulsion from Georgia.

On the night of January 14-15, 2025, in Batumi, in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, the manager of the regional offices of Transparency International - Georgia Zviad Koridze and the leader of the political party For Georgia Giorgi Gakharia  were attacked.

The developed repressive events, on the one hand, the direct involvement of law enforcement agencies, and on the other hand, their criminal inaction once again confirms that the justice system is under the effective control of the Georgian Dream. From this perspective, two cases deserve special attention among the repressions carried out in Batumi - the arrest of Mzia Amaghlobeli and the group violence of high-ranking members of the Georgian Dream on the territory of the Sheraton Hotel.

The arrest of Mzia Amaghlobeli, Co-founder and Director of the newspaper Batumelebi

The co-founder and director of the newspaper Batumelebi was detained under criminal procedure on January 12, shortly after being released from administrative detention. The criminal detention was based on Article 353¹, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which envisages 4-7 years of imprisonment.

In footage released by propaganda media to justify Mzia Amaghlobeli's criminal detention, it can be seen that she lightly slapped Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze with her left hand. (which may be equated to insult but not physical attack, which would be sufficient for the corpus delicti of Article 353¹ of the Criminal Code of Georgia).

According to IDFI's assessment, even if we disregard the provocation of the crime by Dgebuadze and rely solely on the footage released by the propaganda media, there are no signs of a crime in Mzia Amaghlobeli's actions, however we can clearly see the signs of political persecution. To specify, Article 353¹ of the Criminal Code criminalizes “Attacking a police officer…, his/her official or residential building, or his/her vehicle, or his/her family member”. The Criminal Code does not determine what the term "attack" means. According to the Supreme Court's interpretation (see the Ruling of January 30, 2024, par. 8.8.) "an attack is an aggressive act, which is accompanied by violence or the threat of violence", and according to Article 126 of the Criminal Code, violence is "Beating or another type of violence that causes the victim's physical pain".

This indicates that any contact with a police officer, items in his possession or ownership and/or the threat of such contact cannot be considered a crime. Such an act must reach a certain degree of intensity. This intensity should be assessed by the extent to which a person could be injured by one’s actions or whether there was an intention to cause such injury. Even from the footage released by the propaganda media, it is clear that Mzia Amaghlobeli's actions could not have caused such a result and, at worst, could be assessed as an administrative offense.

It should be noted that the detention was preceded by threats from the police against the newspaper Batumelebi. It should be noted that on January 13, the operator of the same newspaper, Guram Murvanidze, was also detained and 8 days of administrative imprisonment was imposed on him on January 14. According to Mzia Amaghlobeli's statement, after her detention, she became a victim of ill treatment, including being spat on the face by Irakli Dgebuadze. 

It is alarming that the court used imprisonment as a measure of restraint against Mzia Amaghlobeli, since none of the prerequisites for the use of imprisonment are apparent in her case. The statements of the members of the Georgian Dream party, who are trying to support the accusation with different propaganda narratives, additionally indicate political persecution.

Based on the presented arguments, IDFI believes that Mzia Amaghlobeli and the newspaper Batumelebi are clearly being subjected to political persecution.

Attacks on Zviad Koridze, Manager of Regional Offices of Transparency International - Georgia, and Giorgi Gakharia, Leader of the Political Party For Georgia

On the night of January 14-15, 2025, in Batumi, in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel, Zviad Koridze, the manager of the regional offices of Transparency International - Georgia, was attacked. According to TI, Dimitri Samkharadze, the regional secretary of the Georgian Dream party, and Giorgi Manvelidze, the former chairman of the faction of The Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and currently the acting deputy minister of Finance and Economy of Adjara, participated in the group attack. Shortly after the incident, the same group (or part of this group) also attacked Giorgi Gakharia, the leader of the political party For Georgia, who was diagnosed with a broken nose and a concussion after being taken to the hospital.

It is noteworthy that the hotel administration still refuses to hand over the video footage of the attack to the victims. The Ministry of Internal Affairs started an investigation under the article of violence/beating (Article 126 of the Criminal Code), while the attack clearly shows signs of group violence and/or persecution (Articles 156 and 225 of the Criminal Code). 

The events that took place in Batumi on January 11–15 once again indicate that the justice sector—including investigation, criminal prosecution, and the judiciary—is under effective partial control. The justice sector, by instrumentalizing the Constitution and laws of Georgia, makes decisions aligned with the interests of the ruling party.