Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Multiple international human rights and journalism advocates on Wednesday sharply condemned the conviction and two-year prison sentence of independent Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli as the well-known media manager seeks an appeal amid declining health.
As of this year she gained the distinction as the first woman journalist to be jailed in the eastern European nation of Georgia since its 1991 independence from the former Russian Soviet Union.
"The proceedings were riddled with procedural violations and bias," Denis Krivosheev, the deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of Amnesty International, said in a statement.
Amaghlobeli, a co-founder of independent media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was said to be unlawfully detained hours before her Jan. 12 arrest in Georgia's western city of Batumi for allegedly slapping the city's police chief in a dispute during peaceful local protests against government policy.
According to Krivosheev, the court "refused to admit much of the defense's submissions and investigate credible allegations of ill-treatment by police officials."
