Another French Photojournalist Denied Entry to Georgia

Civil.ge

6 days ago

Hicham El Bouhmidi, a French freelance photojournalist who had been covering the capital's ongoing protests, was recently denied entry to Georgia, a move that appears to be part of a broader pattern of border refusals targeting journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
'After being interrogated and waiting for six hours at the Armenian-Georgian border I got handed the long-awaited paper,' the photographer
wrote on Instagram
on August 3, referring to the official entry refusal document. He said the official reason for denied entry was 'other cases envisaged by Georgian legislation,' a vague provision frequently cited in similar cases.
El Bouhmidi noted that the same motive 'has reportedly been used over the past months to refuse the entry in the country to fellow journalists reporting on the authoritarian slide of the Georgian government', citing, among others, cases of fellow French journalists
Jérôme Chobeaux
,
Clément Girardot
, and Marylise Vigneau.
He also said that the same clause has been used by Georgian border authorities against Russian and Belarusian citizens who 'confronted their regimes.' The photographer said he was expecting such a decision.
The streak of refusals has recently affected journalists and activists, including those who had lived in Georgia for years, many of whom believe their political views or reporting critical of the ruling Georgian Dream party were key factors in their rejection. In May, EU diplomat
Simon Vanderbroucke
was denied entry to Georgia, marking the first such reported case involving a diplomat.
In July, OC Media also
reported
that Dutch journalist Joost Bosman, who had for years covered developments in Georgia, including recent protests, was turned away at the Georgian border twice in a single month. The refusal was officially based on similarly vague grounds, with border officials additionally citing an administrative fine that, according to the journalist, had already been waived at the time of the first entry attempt.
In late May, the Polish and French embassies in Georgia
issued advisories
calling their citizens to consider potential entry risks, including participation in protests and social media activity, before traveling.
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