Another Russian Blogger Says Denied Entry to Georgia

Alexei Romanov, Russian blogger critical of the Kremlin, said he was refused entry to Georgia after almost 6 hours wait at the Sadakhlo checkpoint on the Georgian-Armenian border.

Romanov wrote on July 19 that the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) handed him a document where no specific reasons for refusal of entry are provided, but the checked point refers to “does not satisfy other reasons outlined in the Georgian legislation.”

Romanov himself assumed that the reason for the decision is his journalistic activity and reports filed from Georgia last fall, when citizens held protests demanding the release of imprisoned ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Civil.ge has contacted the Ministry for details on Romanov’s case and is still awaiting an answer.

Romanov has his own YouTube channel where he actively criticizes representatives of the Russian government. According to the media reports, after being harassed by the Russian Security Service in the past, he lived in Georgia for a while in the period of 2016-2020.

Several people critical of the Kremlin have been denied entry to Georgia of late. In March, journalists David Frenkel of the Russian-language, independent publication Mediazona, and Mikhail Fishman of TV Dozhd were both barred from entering the nation. Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was also denied entry into Georgia.

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