French photographer Hicham El Bouhmid, who was covering ongoing protest actions in the country, was denied entry to Georgia. On August 3, 2025, he wrote on Instagram that after six hours of waiting and questioning at the Armenia–Georgia border, he was refused entry, with the official reason cited as “other cases provided for by Georgian legislation.”
Based on publicly available information from 2024–2025, the “Media, Information, and Social Research Center” recorded nine cases of foreign journalists and photographers being denied entry to Georgia, and one case of being denied exit from the country. In none of these cases did law enforcement specify the exact motive for the refusal of entry.
On March 30, 2025, Italian media outlet NurPhoto’s photojournalist Jérôme Chobeau was denied entry into Georgia.
This is not the first time journalists have been refused entry into Georgia:
- On February 12, 2025, journalist Clément Girardeau was denied entry at the Georgian border.
- On December 30, 2024, Belgian journalist Witse De Geest was not allowed to enter Georgia.
- On October 26, 2024, IFJGlobal journalist Stefan Goss was denied entry.
- On September 16, 2024, Belarusian journalist and activist Andrei Mialeshka was refused entry into Georgia.
The international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders responded to these incidents, criticizing the decisions and stating that journalists are being punished for covering protest rallies.
