Ray Beasley, a Czech journalist, reporter and photographer, who was actively covering the protests against the "Russian law" in Georgia, was not allowed to enter Georgia on October 22. The journalist himself tweeted about the above, noting that he was not informed of the reason for restricting his right to cross the border. As far as the Democracy Research Center is informed, the journalist had his last contact with Studio Monitor. In particular, he told them that his phone would likely be taken away. After that, it became impossible to contact him.

According to the latest information, the journalist is in Georgia and he is supposed to return to the Czech Republic on Saturday, October 26. He still has no access to his phone. In the document, which was published by the journalist himself, the most general and vague paragraph is indicated as the reason for the refusal to let him enter the country: "Does not meet other requirements provided for by legislation of Georgia." Based on the fact that Ray Beasley was actively covering the protests in Georgia, there is a reasonable suspicion that the refusal to let him in the country is related to his participation as a journalist in the protests taking place in the spring of 2024. It should be noted that this is not the first time when foreign journalists were banned from crossing the border of Georgia without any explanation. For example, Pussy Riot activist Nika Nikulin and Mediazone editorial manager Gala Latigovskaya were not allowed to enter Georgia for the same vague reason in November 2022. However, the refusal to let a journalist from the EU member state cross the border is a relatively new and disturbing trend.

It is significant that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is a body responsible for the border control, has not yet made a statement regarding the mentioned fact.

The Democracy Research Center calls on the Georgian authorities and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to respond in a timely manner to the fact that the journalist was not allowed to cross the border, as well as to provide detailed information to the public of the reason for restricting him from entering the country and carrying out journalistic activities.

The State is obliged, within the framework of the law, to support both local and foreign journalists and ensure their access to the information they need to cover the elections in Georgia. The Democracy Research Center believes that if the practice of not allowing foreign journalists to enter the country continues for vague and unclear reasons, this will affect the quality of the elections and will definitely have a negative impact on the country's democratization process.