Georgia's Scandal Double Whammy

There is never a shortage of drama in Georgia, but, until recently, the scandals usually have hit one at a time. Now the country simultaneously faces a hue and cry over the arrest of three prominent photographers on espionage charges and an unprecedented state-vs-church confrontation over changes in the legal status of religious minorities.

In a videotaped statement posted on the Interior Ministry's website, presidential photographer Irakli Gedenidze said that he'd become aware that requests for photos  allegedly made by European Pressphoto Agency photographer Zurab Kurtsikidze were connected to "the special services."

“I knew that he was sending these images to Moscow, to a photo agency there," he said. Gedenidze claims he tried to refuse the requests, but was told it would jeopardize his contractual relations with Kurtsikidze.

The videotaped statement, though, did little to dispel widespread distrust and confusion surrounding the photographers’ case.

The tape presented a plan of the presidential residence, a presidential schedule and a document about a presidential meeting, stamped "secret," as among the documents allegedly passed to Kurtsikidze. The Interior Ministry claims that Kurtsikidze was in contact with two Russian military intelligence agents, but does not elaborate.

On Saturday, Gedenidze's wife, Natia, was released without being charged.

Many in  Georgia’s close-knit media community cannot digest the accusations and believe that the arrest may be linked to some offending item from the three detained photojournalists’ work. Journalists and media rights activists gathered in front of the Interior Ministry headquarters today to demand a meeting with  Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. Reporters and advocacy groups have called for declassifying all information related to investigation, which police made secret as matters of security are allegedly involved.

Jailed Foreign Ministry photographer Giorgi Abdaladze vehemently denies
the charges and claims the detentions are linked to photos he took
during the bloody May 26 clash between police and opposition protesters
in Tbilisi.

The government’s counter-argument is that Abdaladze and Gedenidze were on the government’s payroll, and that none of the three has done any reporting that would warrant the allegations of politically motivated charges of espionage. Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili argued to the Russian daily Kommersant that Gedenidze and Adbaladze are not photojournalists, but "public officials.” He maintained that Kurtsikidze recruited the two other photographers to provide photos of classified information, including a list of Georgians working in the United Nations.


Matters are somewhat clearer on another front, where a simmering turf war between the Georgian government and the Georgian Orthodox Church has bubbled up to the surface over the decision last week to grant five religious minorities a legal status analogous to that of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

As thousands marched this weekend in support of the Church’s opposition to the change, the soft-spoken, near-octogenarian Patriarch Ilia II issued statements bordering on a threat to Saakashvili and his government.
“Those who have humiliated the church are punished and they will definitely be punished,” Ilia II said in a Sunday sermon, adding that he would pray for peace for “the authorities and our nation.”


Critics argue that the Church perceived the status upgrade as something of an anti-trust move against the Georgian Orthodox Church, which, by dint of a constitutional pact with the government, has long ruled the religious roost. After a conclave on Monday, the Church said it had found a compromise solution, but did not reveal the details.