The Central Election Commission of Georgia said on November 2 that the accreditation it issued to the Russian government propagandist Alexander Malkevich “was granted in accordance with the electoral legislation” and that “CEC has no access to the legal status of this or that person, and this is not within the scope of its activity.”
On November 1, the pro-opposition TV station Pirveli aired a report saying that Malkevich had not only visited Georgia on election day, but had also received accreditation from the CEC.
Natia Ioseliani, the organization’s spokesperson said at a briefing at CEC, that “any local or foreign media representative is accredited through a simple procedure, including sending relevant information by e-mail. If the submitted documents comply with the electoral legislation, the electoral administration will issue the appropriate accreditation.” Iioseliani also accused the “interested parties” of trying to discredit the Commission and its Chairman by accentuating that the “Russian media-organization representative” accreditation application was sent to personally Giorgi Kalandarishivli, whereas Ioseliani said it is a standard procedure that the accreditation application is filled in the name of the CEC Chair.
The reports of Malkevich’s presence in Tbilisi on the day of October 26 elections surfaced several days after the elections. Malkevich is sanctioned by several countries, including the United States.
Exactly when and how Alexander Malkevich came to Georgia is still unknown. Malkevich had broken the Georgian Law on Occupied Territories at least once, when he visited the occupied Tskhinvali region, at the end of August 2023 . While there he met with the de-facto leader of the occupied region, Alan Gagloev who awarded Malkevich the “Order of Friendship” for his contribution “to the development and strengthening of friendly relations between peoples and in connection with the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the recognition of the Republic of South Ossetia as a sovereign and independent state by the Russian Federation.”
Malkevich is in charge of the Russian propaganda machine operation in the occupied Donbass, Ukraine and was a close associate of the notorious Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has not commented on how and when the Russian journalist entered the territory of Georgia.