\u201cIf Mzia Amaglobeli or her supporters are looking for culprits, those culprits were sitting in that courtroom as ambassadors who were encouraging her not to cooperate with the investigation,\u201d Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili declared.<\/p>\n
Parliament Speaker has accused foreign ambassadors of being responsible for journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli serving her full two-year prison sentence, claiming they discouraged her from cooperating with investigators and accepting a plea bargain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we reviewed the 24 embassies\u2019 statement on Mzia Amaglobeli\u2019s verdict, I noticed the French ambassador\u2019s signature. Let me remind you that in France, a person was sentenced to 18 months\u2019 imprisonment for slapping Macron. The person then cooperated with the court, admitted guilt, and received four months in prison with 14 months suspended, though still an 18-month sentence for assault,\u201d Papuashvili stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Georgia, the court sentenced 24 months\u2019 imprisonment for an analogous, similar case. It was exactly the same situation: a person who slapped the French president in the face, and in Georgia, a person was slapped in the face. The cases are identical analogies, including similar punishments: 18 months in France, 24 months in Georgia.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the difference? The difference is that it was four months in prison and 14 months non-custodial in France, because a plea agreement was arranged. In Georgia, however, Mzia Amaglobeli neither cooperated, nor admitted guilt, nor accepted the proposed plea bargain,\u201d Papuashvili stated.<\/p>\n
The Speaker accused the French ambassador of hypocrisy in calling Georgia\u2019s sentence disproportionate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe French ambassador calls this disproportionate. You know that the prosecutor\u2019s office offered Mzia Amaglobeli a plea agreement. There was no agreement from Amaglobeli\u2019s side, no admission of the crime that all of Georgia witnessed live on air. Accordingly, the court likely had no opportunity to make any further determinations,\u201d Papuashvili added.<\/p>\n
The Speaker blamed ambassadors who attended court hearings for advising against cooperation with the investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Mzia Amaglobeli or her supporters are looking for culprits, those culprits were sitting in that courtroom as ambassadors who were encouraging her not to cooperate with the investigation. It is on the conscience of the ambassadors present in the courtroom that no plea agreement was reached, and that Mzia Amaglobeli must serve the full two years.<\/p>\n
In the case of a plea bargain, it could have been part of a conditional sentence or a different arrangement. Instead of Mzia Amaglobeli, much like the individual in France who confessed to the crime, the ambassadors effectively cornered her. A sentence of 24 months is entirely proportional, and it is false to claim that it is disproportionate. The French ambassador is particularly misleading, as in France, a person was sentenced to 18 months for exactly the same offence,\u201d said Papuashvili.<\/p>\n