| A policeman inspects wall socket in the Georgia’s Way party headquarters, where bugging device was found. Photo: a screenshot from Maestro TV footage. |
Eavesdropping devices found in two opposition parties’ offices are not in use by the Georgian special services for already six years, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on June 30.
Georgia’s Way and Conservative opposition parties said on June 29 that they had found bugging equipment in their offices. The Georgia’s Way party said that one of the devices was uncovered in the party leader Salome Zourabichvili’s private office and the second one in the main meeting room installed in wall sockets. Similar devices were also found in a room of the Conservative Party leaders and another one in the same party’s meeting room.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the police was investigating the case.
It said that uncovered eavesdropping devices “are not included in the category of special appliances” and they could be purchased by any interested individual both in Georgia and abroad “without having special licenses.”
The ministry also said that although this aspect of the case complicated the investigation to find out who installed devices in the opposition parties offices, the police would continue the probe.
After this statement by the Interior Ministry, the opposition Alliance for Georgia, uniting Republican, New Rights and Irakli Alasania’s political team, announced that it had also uncovered a bugging device in its office in the Isani district of Tbilisi.
Mamuka Katsitadze of the New Rights Party said that the party activists decided to search the offices after the announcement of the Georgia’s Way and Conservative parties.
The Conservative Party blamed the Interior Ministry for installing bugs in the opposition parties’ office. “Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili should resign at minimum,” Zviad Dzidziguri, co-leader of the Conservative Party, said.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)