Svetlana Zinovkina's denial of entry into Georgia continues trend of denials of entry to Russians
Svetlana Zinovkina filed a complaint about not being allowed into Georgia; the ruling on the fine that caused the refusal indicates the date when she had already left the country. Court decisions in such cases are not always in favor of the plaintiffs, Russians who encountered problems crossing the border with Georgia have indicated.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Georgian border guards did not allow Russian Svetlana Zinovkina into the country, who was planning to meet with her daughter, who had been arrested in Tbilisi. Arbitrary refusals of entry to Georgia for foreigners violate the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution, the non-governmental organization "Center for Social Justice" stated.
Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, have been arrested on charges of drug trafficking. In court, they stated that evidence was planted on them, and that security forces resorted to threats. At a hearing in April, while interrogating a police officer, Gribul held up a piece of paper with the words: "He planted drugs in my pockets." At a hearing in late June, the owner of the apartment where the Russians were staying told the court that the security forces were not constantly in sight during the search. On July 21, Gribul and Anton Chechin, a Russian arrested in a similar case, announced a dry hunger strike in prison, which lasted three days. One of the demands was to improve the conditions of detention for Zinovkina, who suffers from spinal and vision problems, and to provide her with normal nutrition. Anastasia Zinovkina complained of severe pain in her back; she cannot sit. Activists at a protest in Tbilisi called on the Georgian Ombudsman to visit it.
Svetlana Zinovkina reported that she filed a complaint about the fine that caused the refusal of entry to Georgia
“A complaint was filed with the court and other authorities regarding the imposition of an unlawful fine allegedly for my participation in the rally on March 10. But I had already left Tbilisi on March 9 and did not participate in any protests,” she said.
According to Zinovkina, it was her refusal to pay a fine for a non-existent violation upon entering Tbilisi on July 30 that was the reason for not allowing her into Georgia. She is currently outside the country. She told how the events unfolded.
"They didn't let me in on July 30, they said I had a fine and I had to pay 5,000 lari, they wrote the numbers on a piece of paper and took me to the bank window. I asked them to give me a receipt or to show me why and when I had the fine. Then they gave me a paper denying entry for "other reasons." Then they took me to a special room and said they would send me home in 2-3 hours. There were a lot of foreign citizens there, even a child. In the evening, I again tried to find out when they would send me home, but the guard said he didn't know, and the boss wasn't there. They took my phone away as soon as they brought me there. On the second day, the boss came to me, asked how I was feeling and said that they would bring me food now. He also asked if I wanted tea or coffee. I brought coffee. At about half past twelve they brought me food, the boss came again and personally checked what they brought. And they also told me that my flight would be at night. In the evening they brought me dinner. At about 11:30 pm a policeman came and said it was time and we almost ran to my flight, I asked for the phone, but he said no. Only when we got on the plane, he gave the passport to the stewardess, and then the phone to me," she said.
According to Zinovkina, the trial on her complaint may drag on for a long time. Her daughter already knows about what happened to her mother.
"We had no communication for three months. She couldn't get through. Now, it seems, we can.We had a date planned for August 4. But we couldn't meet, unfortunately," Zinovkina said.
Lawyer Ivan Pavlov* was previously denied entry to Georgia without explanation.
"You can complain about not being allowed in administratively, an administrative complaint is always possible, but the most traditional way is still to go to court. Although, in my opinion, there have not been any successful examples yet, but this is the only civilized option. But I don't have any positive practices," Pavlov said.
According to him, it is difficult even to get an explanation of the reasons for not being allowed into Georgia.
"In principle, it is impossible to obtain such explanations. Everything happens without providing the opportunity to become familiar with the reasons. The applicant and his lawyer will simply not be shown them, because it will all be classified," Pavlov explained.
A Russian journalist who lived in Georgia, on condition of anonymity, reported that the refusal to admit is not explained in any way and it is difficult to predict what it depends on.
"I myself was not allowed in when I entered Georgia from Armenia and spent 4 months in Armenia, then left via Turkey and lang="ru-RU">from there they let meinto Georgia. I sued the Georgian border authorities through a lawyer, in general it is possible, but there will be no positive effect from it. Since then I have left twice, each time a survey-verification. but in the end they let me in," she said.
You can sue the Georgian border authorities, but a positive outcome is not guaranteed.
"OAn acquaintance of mine challenged the decision to deny her entry, and the court then issued her a ban on entry. The court's decision stated that she was considered a person who threatened Georgia's national security. Also, if you have unpaid fines, you will not be allowed into Georgia - you must pay everything at the entrance. Iwas entering again quite recently, a couple of weeks ago - two men, a Russian and a Belarusian, were stopped along with me. They let me through in the end, after asking a lot of inappropriate questions, like - do you have children? But I don't know what happened to these men - I didn't see them after that. VIn general, from my feeling, they regularly don’t let people in, they just don’t say it loudly. Iam not the only one with such a case. Ifthenyou have to wait, the longer the better. But and then they still might not let you in," she explained.
The increasing number of cases of refusals to let Russian citizens into Georgia are connected with the authorities’ desire to prevent entry of Russian activists into the country, Georgian analyst David Avalishvili told the "Caucasian Knot" earlier.
For example, in the spring, Georgian border guards refused to allow the author of the TravelGeorgia project Alexey Mukhranov into the country, without explaining the reason. He had already been denied entry in 2023. Archdeacon Andrey Kuraev and activist Maxim Ivantsov had previously faced refusals. In November 2023, border guards did not allow Russian stand-up comedian Garik Oganisyan into Georgia to perform. In early June, publicist Viktor Shenderovich* was not allowed into Georgia, where he had concerts planned. In August, Georgian authorities denied entry to actor Vitaly Gogunsky. Earlier, Georgian border guards did not allow Proekt* journalist Ekaterina Areniina and Mediazona* manager Gala Latygovskaya into the country.
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