Czech journalist detained in Georgia ahead of election, says Czech ministry

PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech authorities said on Wednesday a Czech journalist was detained on his arrival in Georgia to cover Saturday’s parliamentary election and was being held at Tbilisi’s airport awaiting a flight to Prague.

Ray Baseley, who describes himself as a Czech-British freelance journalist on X, said in a post on the platform on Tuesday he was refused entry to Georgia “without reasoning or any further explanation”.

Baseley, who reports regularly from Georgia and Ukraine, had arrived to cover the Oct. 26 election which has been widely viewed as a test of whether Georgia returns to Russia’s orbit or maintains its pro-Western orientation.

The Czech Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the country’s embassy in Tbilisi located him at the Tbilisi airport.

“The consul personally went to the airport where the man is being held in a detention centre,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“She spoke with him, he is fine and waiting for a flight to Prague. We are still interested in concrete reasons for his detention and refusal of entry,” it said.

The embassy had earlier sent a note to the Georgian Foreign Ministry requesting information.

Baseley has previously worked with Czech online news publication Forum24, which said on Wednesday that Georgian authorities took away Baseley’s phone and personal items and he had been out of contact since.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, additional reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi; Editing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson)