Georgia’s intelligence “not combating” Russian influence – NGOs

More than a dozen Georgian NGOs on Tuesday claimed domestic intelligence and special agencies were allegedly “doing nothing” to combat Russian influence in the country, following the US’ sanctioning of former Prosecutor General under the Georgian Dream Government, Otar Partskhaladze, last week for cooperating with the Russian intelligence and promoting their interests in the country. 

 

The joint statement signed by Transparency International Georgia, Human Rights Centre, Sapari, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Georgia’s Reforms Associates and several others, said Partskhaladze had been “repeatedly exposed” for committing various crimes in Georgia, but was not held accountable allegedly due to his links with the current Government and the ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

 

“The fact that the Georgian public learned about Partskhaladze’s cooperation with the Russian special services from the US State Department and not from the State Security Service of Georgia, causes serious concern. It is hard to believe that the relevant services responsible for ensuring the security of the state of Georgia had no information about this”, said the NGOs. 

 

The NGOs claimed the developments related to the former official indicated that GSSS “did not properly fulfill the function assigned to it by the law”, and that Russian spies were “easily embedded” in the ruling party and its founder’s entourage. 

 

“In such a situation, it is important for the Parliament of Georgia to use all mechanisms of parliamentary control. The head of the Security Service must provide comprehensive answers to questions related to the country’s security challenges. It must also provide the public with information on what specific steps are being taken to neutralize the Russian special services network in Georgia”, said the statement. 

 

The GSSS last week said it was looking into sanctioning Partskhaladze, who served in the high post in 2013.