Court and Prosecutor’s Office Disseminate Controversial Information about Permissions Issued on Secret Listening-Audio-Recording

Interpresnews

On December 20, Tbilisi City Court spread statement about permission on secret listening-audio-recording of phone-conversations which were published in previous days.

“Mass media – printed media and television reported that investigation service of the Ministry of Finance had released secret documentation that became basis of granting right to the investigation service to secretly listen and audio-record phone conversations. The media sources named concrete judges of the Tbilisi City Court who issued relevant orders and permitted the service to secretly listen and audio-record phone conversation of the citizens suspected in alleged crimes, among them Nika Gvaramia and Ivane Merabishvili. Tbilisi City Court clarified that Judges V. Pukhashvili and T. Tabatadze satisfied solicitations of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office on issuing permissions on secret listening-audio recording of phone conversations by concrete people based on concrete court verdicts. However, N. Gvaramia and I. Merabishvili were not mentioned in the solicitations of the Prosecutor’s Office and decrees issued by the judges,” the statement of the Tbilisi City Court reads.

The Court farther clarified that term of the aforementioned secret documentation has not expired yet; both decrees are still valid and making their context public early in  term as well as publicly name the judges who issued the decrees contradicts the goals of criminal procedures.

“It also breaches requirements of the Article 5 of the Law of Georgia on Operative-Investigative Activities that makes the operative-investigative activities strictly clandestine. Only the people prescribed by this law are able to be provided the data, documents and sources on this kind of activity after having undergone certain procedures,” the statement reads.

“Nika Gvaramia’s phone-conversation was listened to in accordance to the law,” said deputy chief prosecutor of Georgia Davit Mchedlishvili said at the briefing on December 20 when responding to the statement of the City Court. He clarified that the Court had issued permissions on listening to concrete phone numbers and no names were mentioned in it. He said Nika Gvaramia used the phone-number, which was registered on a company; Nika Gvaramia was involved in elite corruption at the Telasi Company [Tbilisi Electricity Distribution Company].”

“In the frame of the investigation launched on November 8, 2012 it was revealed that certain Giorgi was calling Giorgi Nemsitsveradze from a certain phone number. When we checked the phone number, it turned out that Nika Gvaramia was using it. So, the Court issued permission to listen to this phone number and Nika Gvaramia’s phone conversations were secretly recorded in accordance to the law,” said Davit Mchedlishvili.

He also clarified that investigation started before Nika Gvaramia was appointed to the position of director general of Rustavi 2. “The investigation was launched on November 8, 2012 whilst Nika Gvaramia was appointed to the position on November 14,” said Davit Mchedlishvili and added that Gvaramia was arrested due to investigative interests to obtain additional evidence.

Mchedlishvili spoke about the crimes committed by other people participating in the elite corruption and said that Aleksandre Khetaguri, Kakha Damenia, Devi Kandelaki, Giorgi Nemsitsveradze and Izabela Gutidze were arrested based on this corruptive scheme. Namely, they were detained in relation with the corruptive scheme working in the Telasi and the investigation still studies this case.