A prominent Georgian journalist was convicted Wednesday of slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest and sentenced to two years in prison in a case that was condemned by rights groups as curbing press freedom. She was arrested Jan. 12, one of over 50 people taken into custody on criminal charges from a series of demonstrations.
Mzia Amaghlobeli, who founded two of Georgia’s independent media outlets, was convicted in the coastal city of Batumi. She was initially charged with assault, an offense that carried a maximum prison sentence of up to seven years, but the judge in the end found her guilty on the lighter charge of resistance, threats, or violence against a defender of the public order or other government official.
The case is just one of many to draw protests and international criticism in recent months as the ruling Georgian Dream party has been accused of eroding civil society and democratic rights in the South Caucasus nation.
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