Tbilisi: The government authorities of Georgia have denied entry to Ray Beasley, a journalist from the Czech Republic. Baseley covered the protest against the foreign agents law, in which protestors demanded to repeal this law.
The development occurred two days ago, on October 22. After the denial of entry, Baseley took to social media and he shared information about this. He also shared the details of the documents that were provided to him.
According to the documents given to him by authorities, they cited “other cases provided for by Georgian legislation” as the reason behind Baseley’s entry ban. It is worth mentioning that Baseley, in his social media post, explained, “Hello everyone from Georgia, especially Journalists and Czech media representatives. The Georgian authorities today at 19:30 did not allow me to enter Georgia.”
He further added, “They did not provide me with any solid reason for banning my entry. I am very shocked by this incident. This is heart-wrenching and totally unacceptable. Interestingly, the border police were not aware of my entry ban. If anyone can help me, please write to me immediately.”
On the other hand, his partner also wrote a social media post and expressed concern. She stated in her post, “The belongings of the Basely have been confiscated.”
While expressing her concern further, she said, “We have contacted the Czech Embassy, but we still have no information on his whereabouts.”
At the same time, she requested everyone to share information if they have any regarding his whereabouts. Some also said that the main reason behind his entry ban is his coverage of anti-government protests over the foreign agent’s law.
The foreign agent’s law, introduced by the ruling party, the Georgian Dream, created a huge controversy. The protesters condemned the law as it would stifle independent media voices. The president vetoed the law, but the Speaker passed it as per the power conferred on him.
