President Margvelashvili: Illegal surveillance is 'unacceptable'
Tweet 
Share
The President of Georgia says making, obtaining and distributing illegal recordings is "unacceptable".
Giorgi Margvelashvili said if working using this method was unacceptable for the media, it was adequate to what citizens experienced in their everyday life.
Statements about illegally obtained recordings have been made by Margvelashvili in last night's TV show on Imedi.
"Unfortunately, our society has gotten used to illegal surveillance - it's been happeneing for a long time - but I would like to say public perception has changed significantly. If recordings had been received as a truth, now we clearly see that this kind of information is not accepted anymore," Margvelashvili stated.
He said he was expecting two things as the country prepared to prevent illegal surveillance. He expected the public's attitude to become more negative against this issue and also expected the existing law to be improved and adopted in Parliament.
Rustavi 2 television has released illegally obtained secret recordings of private conversations of politicians and businessmen despite warnings from Government officials not to release the footage.
The Chief Prosecutors Office of Georgia has released interim results of their investigation into claims the Rustavi 2 television company was bugged.
The investigation into alleged ‘bugging’ of Rustavi 2 television company reveals Constitutional Security Department officials employed by the ex-Government unlawfully purchased illegal recording devices and may still have the equipment in their possession.
The Prime Minister has reminded the public of his warning a year ago claiming the United National Movement were capable of illegally tapping people’s phones and eavesdropping on conversations and private situations.
Members of the Georgian Dream coalition believe United National Movement (UNM) are using "dirty methods” to blackmail society in an attempt to split the coalitions ahead of the elections.
A new law coming into force today gives the Personal Data Protection Inspector of Georgia overall control of secret surveillance throughout the country.