Georgian Border Control

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Arsen Kharatyan. Image via Heinrich Böll Stiftung.

Armenia

Founder of Georgian–Armenian media outlet barred from entering Georgia

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•3 min read

Georgian authorities have barred Aliq Media founder Arsen Kharatyan from entering the country, reportedly detaining him for hours at Tbilisi International Airport before deporting him. Aliq Media reported that their founder was detained at Tbilisi Airport on Tuesday morning, and that he was denied access to his phone. Kharatyan later stated that he had arrived in Tbilisi from an undisclosed European country, reportedly Luxembourg, on Monday. He said that he was detained by the border guards

Georgia

Georgia bars two Russian political activists from entering the country

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

Two Russian political activists living in Georgia were denied re-entry into the country after being involved in campaigning for Boris Nadezhdin, an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Monday, Maksim Ivantsov, the head of Frame, a Tbilisi-based Russian civil society organisation, stated that he was barred from entering Georgia. He told Dozhd, an independent Russian TV channel, that he had flown to Georgia from Vilnius on Monday. He stated that the Georgian border police had mi

Ben Mallet (left) and Carrie Johnson (right), former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, in 2016. Image via the Independent.

Georgia

UNM’s British political consultant denied entry into Georgia

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

A British political consultant working with the opposition United National Movement (UNM) has been barred from entering Georgia in a move the party has described as government interference in the upcoming elections. Ben Mallet was denied entry to Georgia upon landing in Tbilisi on Sunday night, despite having been in the country the previous week, according to the UNM’s Chair, Levan Khabeishvili. The party’s General Secretary, Petre Tsiskarishvili, said on Monday that Mallet had come to Geo

Chechnya

Chechen journalist who was tortured by Russia denied entry to Georgia

by Luiza Mchedlishvili

•2 min read

A Chechen journalist who was tortured and spent three years in prison in Russia has been denied entry to Georgia with no reason given. Zhalavdi Geriyev, a former staff writer at OC Media, arrived at Tbilisi Airport from Budapest on Saturday but was told he was not welcome in the country. Geriyev said that after a border guard saw in his passport that he was born in Chechnya, his documents were taken away to be inspected. ‘Everything was like in an ordinary Russian airport’, Geriyev told O

Anna Rivina

Russian women’s rights activist barred from entering Georgia

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

A Russian women’s rights activist living in Georgia has been denied re-entry into the country just days after she was declared a ‘foreign agent’ by Russia. On Sunday, the independent Russian magazine Kholod reported that Anna Rivina had been denied entry following a work trip to Yerevan. Rivina is the founder and director of Nasiliu.Net (‘no to violence’), an organisation providing services and shelter to victims of domestic violence, and had reportedly been living in Georgia for several mon