Georgian Democracy Initiative expresses deep concern about the information voiced at a special briefing by the Director General of the Rustavi 2 TV company. According to this information, a secret source gave the management of Rustavi 2 audio and video records of the Director General of Rustavi 2, Nika Gvaramia, and the Head of the Information Service, Nino Shubladze, which, according to them, had been kept in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the briefing, the Director General also declared about the discovery of damaged places in the offices which were presumably intended for installing the eavesdropping equipment and covert video cameras.
The aforementioned once again confirms that illegal eavesdropping and gross violation of people’s personal life is still a serious and relevant problem, which contradicts both the human rights and freedoms recognized by the Constitution of Georgia and Georgia’s international obligations in the area of human rights and development of democracy. Besides, this fact is related to journalistic activity and independence of the media, which is one of the cornerstones of a democratic state.
All this is even more troubling when the Prime Minister of Georgia, in his statement made on May 1, says that the “This concerns you – they are still listening” campaign which was launched by NGOs is groundless and, moreover, directed against the state. The information disseminated by the management of the Rustavi 2 TV company, which has once again confirmed the relevance of the concerns expressed by NGOs and the necessity for the state to take effective measures in this direction, indicates to the opposite.
We call on the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to conduct an objective, full, and timely investigation into the illegal eavesdropping against the management of the Rustavi 2 TV company and to ensure that the society is informed about the process and results of the investigation.
We call on the Parliament of Georgia to speed up adopting changes to the Law of Georgia onCriminal Intelligence and Investigative Activity which will make the operations conducted by law enforcement bodies more transparent and controllable and determine effective mechanisms to avoid violations of the right to inviolability of personal life.
