Fifteen Georgian NGOs demand revision of tapping law

Georgian NGOs are drafting a lawsuit to the Constitutional   Court demanding to recognize one of the provisions of the law that regulates the mechanism of secret investigative activities unconstitutional. The Parliament of Georgia does not rule out that the legislation may be revised in the course of the MIA reform.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 28, the Parliament of Georgia adopted legislative amendments aimed at regulating secret investigations. Under the amendments, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) preserves the right to secret tapping, while the inspector for protection of personal data shall execute the supervision.

"We are not criminals; therefore the MIA should not be able to watch our every move," - said Ekaterina Gigauri, the head of the international organization "Transparency International-Georgia".

Currently, the above lawsuit to the Constitutional Court is being drafted by 15 NGOs, including the "Young Lawyers' Association", "Transparency International-Georgia", "Open Society-Georgia", International Society for Democracy and Fair Elections, and the Centre for Human Rights Training and Monitoring. They plan to submit the lawsuit in mid-January.

Besides, NGOs have launched protests under the slogan "They tap us again!" demanding to revise the adopted law; and they are drafting their own bill.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.