Ukrainian webpage released controversial scandalous video
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, October 19
A Ukrainian website – tube.ua - has released a video presumably showing the torture of prisoners in Georgia’s western Samegrelo region in order to force a testimony from him.
The video with the title "How reformers torture people for getting testimonies" shows sexual abuse of a man, who then agreed to give the testimony.
The video ends with photos of Georgia’s former high ranking officials: brothers Akhalaia, ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, Givi Targamadze, Zurab Adeishvili and Vano Merabishvili, with the inscription "Results of law enforcement reforms".
Up to 110 CDs containing a total of 144 files with over 181 hours of secret video recordings of the private lives of citizens, obtained over the past several years through illegal surveillance, were destroyed on September 5, 2013 under the current Georgian Government.
The CDs were destroyed by a special device with the presence of media and members of a commission, which was set up for the purpose of overseeing the handling of secret recordings stored in the Interior Ministry of Georgia.
The destroyed materials included secret recordings of citizens' private lives, mainly of a sexual nature, containing - among other things - gay sex and out-of-marriage sex scenes, which were secretly filmed in hotel rooms and other locations between 2007 and July 2012 under the former Georgian Government, purportedly with a purpose to use them for possible blackmail, according to commission members. The commission said that politicians, journalists, civil society representatives and many others had been recorded.
The opposition United National Movement ( UNM) party stated after the release of the video in Ukraine, where Georgia’s ex-President had been appointed as Odessa Governor, that the current Government of Georgia was to blame for spreading the information.
They stressed that the current Government was afraid of the recently-released NDI survey showing the low rating of the ruling party and decided to harm the UNM.
The UNM pointed to the Georgian Interior Ministry and said that they had information that the Ministry did not destroy all the video materials.
In response, member of the majority Irakli Sesiashvili stated that it was well-known that all the videos had not been destroyed.
“Only those videos were destroyed through the recommendation of our foreign partners and experts, which were related to private lives.
“Those who reflected abuse and torture were kept as evidence in the process of investigation. Based on the evidence, nine individuals had been sent to prison,” Sesiashvili said, noted that the man who released the video through the Ukrainian webpage “wanted people to know the truth”.
He also said that the videos were available for the convicts’ lawyers and all the involved parties of the case, and placing the blame on the Interior Ministry “was not reasonable.”
The Ministry of Interior Affairs has stated that an investigation has been launched over the leak of the video.
