Andrei Mialeshka

Affiliated media: Journalist

Incident date: September 15, 2024

Attack type:

• Ban on entering the country, denial or revocation of a visa / accreditation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: International Federation of Journalists

Location: Georgia, Kutaisi

Additional information:

On 15 September, Belarusian journalist Andrei Mialeshka was denied entry to Georgia, where he has lived for the past three years after facing political persecution in Belarus. He was denied entry to the country under the clause, officially stated as “other cases envisaged by Georgian legislation,” an official pretext that has been used in other such cases in the past. “They will give us our passports back when we go to Poland. They are not saying anything else,” the journalist told the press. Mialeshka further explained he tried to apply for asylum in Georgia, but “there is no way to do this without passports.” The journalist was sent back to Warsaw, Poland, with his daughter on 16 September, leaving his wife and another child in Georgia.