Mzia Amaglobeli's lawyers filed a cassation appeal against the verdict.

The defense appealed the decision of the Kutaisi Court of Appeal, which upheld the two-year prison sentence of Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, in the case of a slap in the face of the Batumi police chief.

As reported by Kavkazsky Uzel, convicted journalist Mzia Amaglobeli has been denied the opportunity to undergo an examination and receive treatment to preserve her vision. This was reported in late November by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, which called on the head of the Georgian Ministry of Justice and the Ombudsman to intervene in the situation. In early August, a Batumi court sentenced Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the publications Batumelebi and Netgazeti, to two years in prison for slapping Batumi Police Chief Irakli Dgebuadze. Amaglobeli's charges were reduced at the final stage of her trial; the original charge carried a sentence of four to seven years in prison. The appellate court upheld the sentence. On the night of January 12, 10 people were detained in Batumi, including Mzia Amaglobeli. Amaglobeli was arrested for posting a poster calling for a general strike. When Amaglobeli was released, she found herself in a stampede involving the city's police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze. According to a silent video published by the pro-government television channel Imedi, Amaglobeli, surrounded and held by police officers and men in dark clothing, said something to Dgebuadze, who responded and turned away. Amaglobeli sharply rebuked him and slapped him. After this, she was surrounded by security forces, and the journalist was detained again, according to the Caucasian Knot report "The Case of Mzia Amaglobeli: Circumstances of the Arrest and the Campaign in Defense of the Journalist."

Mzia Amaglobeli states that her arrest was a political decision, and her release should also be a political decision. Therefore, she does not intend to submit a request, including a request for pardon, to any government agencies, the Batumelebi newspaper reported today.

In the cassation appeal, the lawyers are asking that the Kutaisi Court of Appeal's November 18, 2025, decision regarding Mzia Amaglobeli be overturned and that an acquittal be issued instead. The lawyers also requested that the cassation appeal be considered during an oral hearing and that Mzia Amaglobeli be allowed to participate in the trial.

Mzia Amaglobeli, having gone through two instances of trial, was unable to enjoy her right to a fair trial.

"The Court of Appeal upheld Mzia Amaglobeli's sentence not only in terms of punishment, but also in terms of qualifications. The court failed to take into account any of the circumstances we pointed out in the appeal. The Kutaisi Court of Appeal's verdict is even worse than the first-instance verdict in terms of legality. The Court of Appeal's verdict is a legally invalid document; in this sense, it is unlawful and unfounded," stated Maia Mtsariashvili, Mzia Amaglobeli's lawyer.

"I can tell you that Mzia Amaglobeli, having gone through two courts, was unable to enjoy her right to a fair trial: neither at the investigative stage (because a fair trial includes the investigative stage), nor in the Batumi City Court, nor in the Kutaisi Court of Appeal. The Georgian courts deprived Mzia Amaglobeli of the right to a reasoned decision," the lawyer stated.

The lawyers point out in their cassation appeal that the court violated Mzia Amaglobeli's presumption of innocence.

"No one is obliged to prove their innocence, and the burden of proof lies with the prosecutor. The court also assumed the prosecutor's role; when evaluating the evidence, it failed to resolve any doubts or objections in favor of Mzia Amaglobeli," the lawyers stated.

The lawyers also emphasize the fact that Mzia Amaglobeli was not provided with a fair trial. Neither at the investigation stage nor at the trial stage. In their opinion, the court did not discuss or evaluate any of the circumstances and arguments presented by the defense.

"The court's justification of Mzia Amaglobeli's guilt is not based on specific evidence that the defense could objectively challenge. Both court decisions create the impression that the court did not properly review the case materials," the lawyers write in the cassation appeal.

They also emphasize the fact that the Court of Appeal, like the trial court, failed to note or evaluate in its decision the fact that Mzia Amaglobeli's vision had sharply deteriorated during her time in prison.

Since the journalist's arrest, demands for her release and an investigation into the actions of the police, particularly the Batumi police chief, have been heard at every mass protest that has taken place daily in Georgia since November 2024.

The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association called the arrest of Mzia Amaglobeli a result of political repression. The NGO called on the prosecutor's office to immediately drop Amaglobeli's case and release her, and called on the Special Investigative Service to investigate the journalist's mistreatment after her arrest and to suspend Irakli Dgebuadze from his duties as Batumi police chief pending the investigation. Georgian journalists held a rally outside the government administration, demanding the release of Amaglobeli, and activist Revaz Kiknadze, arrested in connection with violence at protests, announced a hunger strike in solidarity with the journalist.

In October, Mzia Amaglobeli received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which is the European Union's highest award for human rights work.