Parliament adopts law on surveillance in final hearing
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With 87 votes for and 2 against, the Georgian Parliament today adopted a final draft of a law that will establish a covert surveillance agency under the auspices of the State Security Service.
The agency will manage and oversee the surveillance of phone communications, computer systems, post-office transfers, covert audio, photo and video surveillance.
The head of the agency will be appointed by the Prime Minister of Georgia after a seven-member commission will select three possible candidates.
The commission will be comprised of the head of the State Security Service, Deputy Head of Supreme Court, the chairperson of parliamentary Legal Issues Committee, the chairperson of parliamentary Defence and Security Committee, the chairperson of parliamentary Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, the Public Defender and a representative of the Government of Georgia.
The parliamentary majority prepared the new bill after the Constitutional Court struck down current legislation allowing police to have direct, unrestricted access to telecom operators’ networks to monitor communications unconstitutional last year.
Under current legislation, covert surveillance operations have been carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Personal Data Protection Inspector (PDPI) of Georgia; however, the PDPI had to give its consent to government agencies requesting permission to undertake surveillance operations.
With 89 votes for and 20 against, the Georgian Parliament adopted a draft of a law today titled Covert Investigative Activities.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says he will do his utmost to end the immoral practice of releasing information about a person's private life in Georgia.
A new law coming into force today gives the Personal Data Protection Inspector of Georgia overall control of secret surveillance throughout the country.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has vetoed a bill on surveillance which the Georgian Parliament passed on March 1. The law envisages the establishment of a surveillance agency under the State Security Service.
With 93 votes for and 21 against the Georgian Parliament has adopted the final draft of a law on surveillance overturning President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s veto.
The Georgian government has presented a bill drafted by the Defence Ministry of Georgia to parliament which expands the power of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defence, allowing the department and its staff to make automatic photo and video recordings.
Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Kakhaber Sabanadze resigned earlier today amid reports from Mtavari Arkhi and TV Pirveli TV channels on illegal surveillance and hampering an opposition protest back in 2019.
Director of the opposition-minded Mtavari-Arkhi TV channel Nika Gvaramia released a ‘script obtained from the country’s State Security Service’ yesterday which ‘confirms the agency is making illegal recordings of politicians, members of NGOs, foreign diplomats, as well as members of the ruling party.’
The Georgian State Security Service has launched an investigation into the disclosure of state secrets under the classification of ‘secret,’ the body reported earlier today. The official statement of the State Security Service reads that the facts of public information dissemination about the official duties of the body’s staff and officials have become more frequent recently, noting that it ‘clearly violates the law on State Secrets.’
Georgian media outlets have received files allegedly leaked from the country’s State Security Service (SSS), which contain personal data on clerics. The media outlets received a link to the files earlier today from ‘Hakim Pasha,’ titled 'Georgian State Security Sevice’s compromising materials against Patriarchate.’
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has responded to the release of alleged files on clerics and politicians leaked from Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS), stating that it is a ‘dirty provocation of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party against state institutions.’He said that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) is ‘well-aware’ of the UNM goal to ‘undermine state institutions and damage the country’s image.’