The case of twenty citizens illegally under covert eavesdropping and surveillance by the State Security Service is still uninvestigated. On May 18, at a meeting at the Open Society Foundation, the victims spoke about their problems and requested a meeting with the prosecutor.
In addition, a statement was issued by the NGOs’ defending the rights of people under surveillance: Media Advocacy Coalition, Transparency International-Georgia, Georgian Democracy Initiative, Social Justice Center, and the Young Lawyers’ Association.
In August and September 2021, media outlets reported about the alleged systematic and large-scale cases of illegal covert eavesdropping and surveillance by the State Security Service.
Number of persons who figure in the surveillance intel appealed to the prosecutor’s office to conduct a timely, impartial and effective investigation to identify the culprits. Neither the petitioners nor the public have received any information about the ongoing investigation. Given that the prosecutor’s office and the courts refuse to grant the said persons the status of victims, they are not given access to the case file. The standard answers of the prosecution show that the investigation is at a standstill and is no longer making progress.
The victims are:
