"My cell is painted green, the same colour we once used in the newsroom. Two benches and a table are bolted to the floor. Nothing moves. The bed is narrow, but I haven't fallen out yet. When I was free, but already expecting arrest, I used to joke that prison would give me the time I always lacked finally, I could read."
"For the past eight months, this has been my life under Georgia's repressive regime: one that seeks to silence journalists, erase dissent and break our spirit. On 12 January 2025, I was arrested on charges of attacking a police officer during a demonstration. I spent almost seven months in pretrial detention while the case was heard. On 6 August, the judge reclassified the charge, and I was ultimately convicted of the lesser offence of resisting an officer, receiving a two-year prison sentence."
"This gives me the dubious honour of being the first female journalist imprisoned in Georgia for politically motivated reasons since the country's independence in 1991. I was offered a plea deal an admission of guilt in exchange for a lighter sentence but I refused. To reconcile with injustice is to be buried alive. I had to find new ways to protest against the injustice this regime has subjected me to. I remember cutting off my braid shortly after I was imprisoned."
My cell is painted green with two benches and a table bolted to the floor in Rustavi prison. The bed is narrow and vision has deteriorated, forcing writing in encroaching darkness. On 12 January 2025 I was arrested on charges of attacking a police officer during a demonstration and spent almost seven months in pretrial detention. On 6 August the judge reclassified the charge and convicted me of resisting an officer, imposing a two-year sentence. I was the first female journalist imprisoned in Georgia for politically motivated reasons since 1991. I refused a plea deal, undertook a 38-day hunger strike, cut off my braid, and accepted only ten litres of water.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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