Interior Ministry fined for violation of personal data law in case of deceased cameraman Lashkarava
TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava was attacked by right-wing activities during Tbilisi Pride events on July 5, while he was found dead in his home on July 11. Photo: euronews Georgia.
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The Georgian State Inspector’s Office has fined the country’s Interior Ministry 2,000 GEL for a violation of the personal data law by releasing footage from July 11, 2021 depicting the deceased cameraman of TV Pirveli Lekso Lashkarava.
Lashkarava was attacked by right-wing activists during Tbilisi Pride events in central Tbilisi on July 5, and he was found dead in his home on July 11 several days after being discharged from hospital.
To inform the public of the possible reasons behind his death, on July 11 the Interior Ministry released several videos in which Lashkarava was driving a moped to several locations in Tbilisi on July 10, including Ponichala, which is a district known for drug dealing.
The ministry said that a drug overdose could have been the cause of death, however, it added that the results of the autopsy were mandatory to make a final conclusion.
As none of the videos released by the ministry responded to the main question amongst the public on the concrete reason for his death, and as the ministry was unable to clarify the connection between the footage and the cause of death, the release of the footage has been assessed as the violation of the law on the protection of personal data,” said the State Inspector’s Office.
The agency said that the ministry also obtained one of the videos through ignoring mandatory procedures and fined the medical facility, which gave the footage to the ministry 500 GEL.
Police have detained one individual for the purchase, possession and sale of drugs in the Ponichala district of capital city of Tbilisi, 'the same individual who sold heroin to TV Pirveli cameramen Lekso Lashkarava' on July 10, a few days later after he was beaten severely at the July 5 Tbilisi pride counter rally.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has named drug overdose as a possible reason for the death of TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava earlier today.
TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, 36, was found dead at home this morning. Lashkarava was one of the 53 media representatives who were attacked by right-wing groups during the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on June 5.
A Palitranews cameraman who was attacked by right wing activists earlier today has undergone an operation at New Hospitals and is being taken to the med ward at this time. Head of the New Hospitals emergency service Mikheil Beriashvili said that the patient had a head injury and a broken nose.
Besarion Bendeliani, opposition For Georgia party mayor candidate in Tsageri claims his car has been shot at last night. "I went out and saw that my car was damaged, [it was] shot at. There was no sound [although] it is a very densely populated place", Bendeliani said. He connects the assault with his political activities.
Journalists of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Borjomi TV are the winners of an award in honor of TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava.
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has released the results of an autopsy performed on TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, dated December 30, 2021, earlier today to the media.