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Freedom of Choice Coalition Obtained a Police Officer’s Memory Card Containing Information about the Public

July 30, 2012
Representatives of the Freedom of Choice coalition obtained a memory card belonging to Lanchkuti district police officer Shmagi Urtadzis on which there was information about the public.

Ia Mamaladze, director of the Regional Media Association, said today during a press conference that the memory card contained information about residents in the villages of Jurkveti and Atsana; were they work, what kind of business they are involved in, which political party they support and which TV company’s satellite they have.

“This information shows clearly that the police, without court orders, is spying and collecting information about people’s political views, local opposition leaders, public figures and their family members. We have grounds to believe that police officer Urtadze was fulfilling orders from his superiors and not acting by his own initiative,” said Ia Mamaladze who informed that the memory card also contains police officer Bendeliani’s collected information about residents of Jurkveti.

Irakli Melashvili, another representative of the Freedom of Choice coalition, said that police officers in the regions are turned into political police officers that have orders to study the public’s political views, in violation of the Georgian constitution. Media expert Zviad Koridze says that it is important to appeal to the National Security Council's Interagency Committee for an investigation.

“It is clear that it is impossible for these facts to be investigated by Georgian police structures, because they are the ones doing unconstitutional things. If we hand the memory card over to law enforcement agencies, we cannot be sure that they won’t change or destroy the information,” said Zviad Koridze.

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