Between harassment and expulsion, Georgia is bent on silencing British journalist Will Neal
Independent British journalist Will Neal was arbitrarily denied entry into Georgia, where he has lived since 2022, upon returning from a trip to the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU). Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this arbitrary decision and calls for its immediate reversal. The expulsion follows a hate campaign led by pro-government politicians and media outlets in response to Neal’s investigation into Georgian circles of power, as press freedom continues to deteriorate in the country.
“My first thought was, ‘well, there it is,’ although, in the days since, I suppose the reality of being barred from the country that has been my home for the last three years has begun to sink in a little,” British freelance journalist Will Neal told RSF, describing his expulsion at the Georgian border on 20 May while returning from a trip to the UK and EU via Armenia.
Having lived in Tbilisi since 2022, Will Neal was refused entry into Georgia after being held for 45 minutes at a land crossing. Now stranded in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, he no longer has access to his personal belongings left behind in the Georgian capital. The Georgian authorities offered only a vague explanation, citing “other cases provided for by Georgian legislation.”
This measure follows after days-long hostile smear campaign against Will Neal earlier in April, initiated by Georgian political leaders and pro-government outlets. The attacks followed the publication of his investigation for British magazine Byline Times, which reported business ties between UK private equity group Hunnewell Partners and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is sanctioned by the EU. Hunnewell Partners is a close business partner of Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, and owns Georgia’s largest television network, the pro-government channel Imedi TV.
“Will Neal’s case marks a new stage in the repression of foreign journalists in Georgia and clearly illustrates the authorities’ rejection of any independent journalistic scrutiny of power structures. Whether they’re smear campaigns led by pro-government media and politicians or administrative obstruction, these intimidation tactics must end. RSF condemns this politically motivated ban and calls for its immediate lifting. British authorities must also hold the Georgian government accountable for this violation of one of the rights of a British citizen.
A smear campaign that lasted days
For several days, Will Neal’s reporting — including coverage of anti-government protests in Georgia — has drawn increasing hostility from those in power. These attacks were triggered by his investigation into Hunnewell Partners, a UK-based private equity firm linked to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s inner circle, which was published on 31 March in Byline Times. The story exposed previously unreported ties between the British group and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who is under EU sanctions.
In response, several representatives of the Georgian Dream party publicly accused Will Neal of being part of a “deep state” working against the Georgian government. These attacks from politicians were accompanied by a media offensive that reached its peak on 6 April, when Imedi TV broadcast a prime-time, hour-long programme titled “Commissioned Lies.” The show directly targeted Will Neal, attacking his professional background and airing footage of him at the headquarters of an opposition party during the 2024 parliamentary elections. Will Neal learned there would be a programme about him from a source quoted in his Byline Times report; at no point was he contacted by the media outlet for comment.
“These repeated attacks took shape as a concerted and seemingly coordinated smear campaign intended to discredit the story and undermine my credibility as a journalist. There were discernible similarities in both format and wording across a number of reports from a variety of different state-aligned channels, as well as the statements from high-ranking government officials, which sought to portray me as a ‘Soros agent’ of an ill-defined ‘deep state’ conspiracy against Georgia’s sovereignty and national interests among ‘radical’ elements of the country’s various opposition groups,” Will Neal told RSF.
Georgia’s declining press freedom
Since the contested October 2024 parliamentary elections, the situation for journalists in Georgia has significantly worsened. Arbitrary expulsions of foreign journalists are increasingly common, as seen in the recent cases of French journalists Clément Girardot and Jérôme Chobeaux, Czech journalist Ray Baseley, and Swiss journalist Stephan Goss.
Crackdowns on protests since November have involved intimidation, arbitrary detentions, and police violence against Georgian journalists. At the same time, the country’s legal framework is becoming more oppressive with the adoption of new laws that further restrict press freedom.
This decline is reflected in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index, in which Georgia fell 11 places. The country now ranks 114th out of the 180 countries and territories surveyed.
