Audience members at Irish PEN’s sold-out Freedom to Write event write postcards to Mzia Amaglobeli, who has been imprisoned in Georgia since January 2025
Members of the audience at the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh last night wrote 84 postcards of support to imprisoned Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli in a powerful show of international solidarity.
The postcards were written during Irish PEN’s annual Freedom to Write event at The Marketplace Theatre, where an empty chair was left on stage to represent Mzia, who has been imprisoned in Georgia since January 2025.
Audience members were invited to write personal messages which will now be sent to Mzia in prison, demonstrating that her case is being watched far beyond Georgia’s borders.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, international counsel for Mzia Amaglobeli, said:
“My brave client, Mzia Amaglobeli, has been unjustly imprisoned since January 2025. She has the dubious honour of being the first female journalist imprisoned in Georgia for politically motivated reasons since the country’s independence in 1991.“It was extremely moving to see so many people thousands of miles away, in Armagh, take action to support her. It is long past time to Free Mzia.”
The audience heard Ms Gallagher highlight the growing threat to journalists around the world, including Mzia.
Lia Mills of Irish PEN/ PEN na hÉireann, said:
“People everywhere are profoundly moved and inspired by the story of Mzia’s steadfast courage and resistance to State bullying.”
Irish PEN – an organisation which supports writers worldwide and promotes Irish literature – always dedicate an empty chair at their events to a writer who is absent.
The event formed part of the 39th John Hewitt International Summer School and highlighted growing international concern over media freedom in Georgia, where Mzia’s imprisonment has become a symbol of the country’s crackdown on independent journalism.
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Photo caption: Members of the audience at Irish PEN’s Freedom to Write event at the John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh wrote 84 postcards of support to imprisoned Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli. An empty chair on stage symbolised Mzia’s absence while she remains in prison in Georgia.
(image credits: Simon Robinson)
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