Andrzej Poczobut, Belarusian-Polish journalist and a critic of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, and Mzia Amaglobeli, Georgian journalist and director of media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, are the laureates of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought awarded by the European Parliament. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-FEJ) welcome the decision and hope this distinction will help draw attention to cases of unjustly detained journalists such as Poczobut and Amaglobeli. The Federations call once again for the immediate release of all imprisoned journalists and media workers in Belarus and Georgia.
Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli are both journalists unjustly imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia respectively, just for doing their jobs.
A Belarusian court sentenced Poczobut to eight years in prison in February 2023. He was found guilty of “encouraging actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus and inciting ethnic hostility.” The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said that, from the beginning, Poczobut’s case looked like a reprisal for the dissent and the long-standing public position of the journalist to the regime.
The case of Amaglobeli follows a similar pattern. The Georgian journalist was sentenced to two years in August 2025 on disproportionate charges of “attacking” Batumi’s Police Chief, following an altercation during a government crackdown on democratic protests. Since her detention in January 2025, Amaglobeli has been smeared by the Georgian authorities, who wrongly accused her of acting on behalf of foreign powers. In addition, the independent media outlets she runs, Batumelebi and Netgazeti, which are known for uncovering corruption and abuse of power, were also targeted, with their bank accounts seized as another step to exert pressure.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger welcomed the awarding of the Sakharov prize to jailed journalists, while hoping that it will draw attention to their unjust situation: “We are deeply concerned about the conditions faced by journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli in prison. Their cases are clear examples of authoritarian governments sending media professionals behind bars to silence them. We reiterate our call to the Belarusian and Georgian authorities to release all imprisoned journalists.”
The IFJ-affiliated union in Palestine, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) was among the finalists of the Sakharov Prize together with the Red Crescent and UNRWA, which had been nominated in representation of journalists and humanitarian workers in Palestine.
Source: EFJ
