Ben Mallet, a British citizen and a political advisor, was denied entry into Georgia on November 12, according to the opposition political party United National Movement (UNM).
Already in Georgia a week ago, Mallet was due to return to do political consultancy work for the UNM and “Strategy Agmashenebeli”, the party officials said, but was turned away at the border. Alexandre Crevaux-Asatiani, the UNM representative, spoke to The Independent and said: “Ben is a political consultant that UNM has hired very recently. He was on his way back to Georgia from France and upon entry to Georgia they refused his entry for unknown reasons. I’d seen him the week before, I saw him last Thursday. Everything was completely normal and there is no reason to think the government would do anything.”
In its statement, the UNM blamed the ruling “Georgian Dream” party, claiming that the “Russian Dream” frantically fears transparency and the experience of Western political campaigns.” Crevaux-Asatiani also said that he he connects the incident to the preparations for next year’s parliamentary elections.
Mallet’s denial of entry was listed under “other cases envisaged by Georgian legislation,” which is considered by the UNM members to be the most vague and general justification for denying entry to people.
Speaking to journalists, the chairman of the UNM, Levan Khabeishvili, accused the government of sparking a “diplomatic scandal,” asking: “Can you imagine that a British citizen was not allowed, but they lay a red carpet for [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov and Russian generals?” According to Khabeishvili, Mallet was supposed to help them counter the “Russian propaganda of the Russian dream. He added: “He was not allowed to enter, because our offices are being watched, we are being watched, they saw that this person went to our office, that he was working with us… It turns out that this Russian party is actually working on the opposition, but not on the occupation.
According to POLITICO‘s anonymous source, familiar with the matter, “Mallet’s phone and laptop were initially seized, and he wasn’t given a clear reason for being denied entry.”
Who is Ben Mallet?
Ben Mallet is the Director of International Campaigns at the Messina Group. He advises and manages political campaigns worldwide, and is an expert in advising politicians, governments, and companies on messaging and communications strategies.
Mallet was a former advisor to British Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as the Foreign Office Minister Lord Zac Goldsmith. He has also served as senior counsel and campaign director to a number of UK, U.S., and European politicians.
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- 02/06/2023 – Russian Anti-Putin Publicist Denied Entry to Georgia
- 10/05/2023 – Chechen journalist tortured in Russia denied entry to Georgia
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