7 arrested for releasing private data, blackmail of victims
The Prosecutor General’s office has filed charges against the offenders following the address of the Special Investigation Service of Georgia. Photo: Special Investigation Service press office
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The Special Investigation Service of Georgia on Wednesday said it had arrested seven individuals for obtaining and releasing intimate data of victims, including a minor, and blackmailing their targets.
In one case, the body said one of the offenders had obtained private photos and videos of a minor after contacting her back in May and sending her his own intimate content. The offender later sent the personal videos featuring the minor to her classmate.
Two other offenders had illegally obtained and kept intimate photographs of another victim for the purpose of blackmail, before sending them to the family member of the person, the Service said.
It also noted the other arrested offenders had been found illegally obtaining private videos and blackmailing their victims with making the files public, in attempts to extort money.
The crime is punishable by four to seven years in prison.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says that the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has plans to release secret recordings of the private life of public figures ‘or their fabrication’ from abroad in the coming days to spark tension ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has detained an individual for illegally filming and secretly keeping a video depicting the private life of a female acquaintance in the eastern Georgian municipality of Marneuli.
Through cooperation with Facebook administration the MIA has found out that the accused had been registered on Facebook under the user name Buba Lomtatidze and has released personal footage for several times in January.
One has been detained for uploading intimate private footage on YouTube after the statement of Georgian Dream ruling party MP Eka Beselia, who said on 28 January that footage of her personal life recorded under the United National Movement leadership had gone viral. The individual has acknowledged his guilt in the matter.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation after local media reported alleged murders in north-western Georgia’s Mestia municipality on Monday.