State secrecy disclosure, privacy invasion charges added against former state security service official

The Georgian prosecutor general’s office on Tuesday filed additional charges of deliberate disclosure of state secrecy and invasion of privacy against Soso Gogashvili, the imprisoned former deputy head of the country’s state security service. 

The body said Gogashvili had illegally obtained data containing state secrets before handing it to another individual, and noted he had also kept videos of “private life” of “a number of individuals” on his electronic device while in office between 2015-2018.

The suspect kept the illegally obtained classified information in his home, creating risks of a leak of state secrecy”, the body said, noting the former official had also facilitated publication of a video showing an individual’s personal life details on the internet.

Gogashvili, who was denied bail in July, had earlier been charged with exceeding authority, illegally obtaining personal data of two individuals and illegal possession of firearms on July 18, after being arrested at his home two days earlier.

The prosecutor's office previously said an investigation carried out by the service had shown Gogashvili had held access to information containing “state secrets”, as well as personal data of “certain individuals”.

The statement noted Gogashvili had taken the data out of his office for “personal purposes” and kept it at home, through a misuse of his authority. Some of the personal data was later “disseminated with the participation of Gogashvili”, the body added, violating the constitutional rights of individuals and “causing significant damage”.

If found guilty, the former official, who has claimed the materials had been planted on him, could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.