Materials on wiretapping by special services of foreign diplomats, including those from the United States, published in Georgia

In Georgia, materials have been published on the mass illegal wiretapping by local special services of the conversations of many famous people, including politicians, journalists, clergymen and foreign diplomats. Among them, for example, were employees of the US Embassy in Tbilisi. The leaking of these materials, which threatens an international scandal, occurred two weeks before the municipal elections.

The heads of the opposition channels Mtavari Archi (Main Channel), TV-Formula and TV-Pirveli almost simultaneously received from an unknown source with an IP address in California a link to a website with materials of the operational activities of the State Security Service (SGB) Georgia. About it told “Kommersant” founder and CEO of “Mtavari Archi” Nika Gvaramia.

The site contains thousands of files with transcripts of telephone conversations, chats on social networks, information messages from confidential sources and memoranda on operational developments of the State Security Service.

“We have already found data on the post-Israel and also on several employees of the American embassy,” Nika Gvaramia said. He did not rule out that the State Security Service also tapped US Ambassador Kelly Degnan.

During the presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili, Nika Gvaramia held a number of high positions in his team, including the head of the ministries of justice and education. Saakashvili himself announced that he was ready to return to his homeland. The announcement came ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.

These elections may turn out to be fateful for the country: in accordance with the so-called “Charles Michel Agreement”, formalized on April 19 with the direct participation of the President of the European Council, if the ruling Georgian Dream (GM) party does not gain more than 43% of the votes on party lists, then ” united opposition ”, headed by Mikheil Saakashvili, will have the right to demand the appointment of early parliamentary elections.

The scandal with “total wiretapping” reduces the chances for the ruling party to overcome the barrier, and can also lead to a crisis in foreign policy. “Wiretapping of diplomats is a flagrant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” says expert Vakhtang Maisaya.

According to him, the pre-election actions of the Georgian authorities also breed mistrust of Western countries. Vakhtang Maisaya recalled that the Georgian government “invited the head of the CEC of Belarus Lidia Yermoshina as an observer to the October 2 elections.” The Belarusian opposition accuses Yarmoshyna of falsifying the results of the August 2020 presidential elections, which, according to official data, were won by Alexander Lukashenko.

During the briefing, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili called what is happening around the wiretap publication “a dirty, pre-planned provocation of Saakashvili and his henchmen using half-truths and handy media.” He hinted that the team of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who went over to the opposition at the end of February, was involved in the leak of materials from the State Security Service. Many people from his entourage held important posts in law enforcement agencies, including the State Security Service.

According to another version, the files with the results of operational activities were leaked by a former SGB officer who committed suicide a few months ago.

SGB ​​September 14 published a statement in which it was reported that the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation in connection with the publication of wiretapping materials. In the incident, the security forces saw signs of a crime qualified under parts 1 and 2 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (violation of the secrecy of private communication).

“At the same time, the State Security Service calls on the media and politically interested persons to refrain from disseminating inaccurate and unverified information until the completion of the investigation, since the reproduction of such information offends certain individuals, the dignity of security personnel and the service in general,” the press release said.