Parliament of Georgia to ban secret surveillance

The ban on citizens' secret shadowing in Georgia should be reflected in the legislation, the members of the initiative group believe. The Georgian parliament has set up a working group to study these proposals and prepare the appropriate bills.

The proposals to amend the legislation were prepared by the following members of the initiative group: Lasha Tugushi, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Resonanci"; Zviad Koridze, a member of the Charter of Journalists' Ethic; and Lika Sajaya, the chair of the board of the Regional Research Centre to Promote Constitutionalism.

The decision to set up a parliamentary working group to study the issue of amending the legislation was adopted on June 13 at a joint meeting of the Judiciary Committee and the Committee for Human Rights and Civil Integration.

Over the years, special services had been massively and uncontrollably collecting information about citizens' private life, thereby violating human rights and the legislation, Lasha Tugushi said at the joint sitting of the committees.

"We suggest creating a legal framework in order not to allow this happen again," he said, adding that the initiative group proposes, in particular, to increase the punishment for illegal wire-tapping and surveillance.