Georgian activists alarmed by agreement of special services of Georgia and Belarus

The cooperation agreement of Georgian and Belarusian special services endangers the safety of Belarusian citizens living in Georgia, Georgian activists believe, urging the authorities to cancel the agreement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 14, it became known that the above special services had agreed on cooperation, including in combating crimes against the constitutional order. Georgian political analysts said that Georgian authorities should refrain from extraditing citizens of Belarus, as this could result in Western sanctions against Georgia for complicity with the Belarusian political regime.

The NGO "Tbilisi Human Rights House" has called on Georgian authorities not to fulfil the cooperation agreement. "It is important that the Georgian side does not admit the actual implementation of the special services' agreement, since it can pose a threat to the citizens of Belarus residing in Georgia, especially to human rights defenders and activists," the NGO said in its statement translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Georgian oppositionists were outraged by the agreement between special services of Georgia and Belarus. "The most unreliable institution in our country cooperates with violators of human freedoms," Tsotne Koberidze, an activist of the "Girchi" Party, said on August 15 on air of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel. The agreement damaged the image of the "Georgian Dream" Party and should be cancelled immediately, he has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2021 at 07:03 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.