Georgia: Officials to Open Photographer/Spy Trial, Declassify Some Evidence
Faced with a growing outcry over the arrest of three prominent photographers on espionage charges, the Georgian government on July 13 took action to counter criticism that a desire to stifle a press freedom is a major motivation for the spy case. The government maintains that President Mikheil Saakashvili’s personal photographer, Irakli Gedenidze, and Giorgi Abdaladze, a freelance photographer for the Foreign Ministry, were taking photos of classified government information and supplying them to a correspondent for the Frankfurt-based European Pressphoto Agency, Zurab Kurtsikidze. The government alleges that Kurtsikidze, in turn, was passing the material to Russian military intelligence. Aside from a videotaped statement by Gedenidze, the presidential photographer, evidence released to support the government’s claims so far has been limited to images of a plan of the presidential residence, a presidential itinerary, a description of a presidential meeting and recordings of phone calls about payments from Frankfurt. Citing security concerns, officials had stated that additional evidence in the case was classified. But their reticence touched off a maelstrom of criticism. Protests have been staged this week in front of parliament, the US Embassy and Interior Ministry buildings. To avoid taking a PR beating, Tbilisi is now taking actions to address transparency concerns. The Prosecutor’s Office on July 13 released a statement announcing that the photographers’ trial will be open to the public, although a “small part of the evidence that contains state secrets” will be reviewed in a closed hearing. Later the same day, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili held two separate meetings with representatives of international wire agencies and with a deputation of journalists and media rights advocates to discuss the government’s case. Ia Antadze, a Georgian media rights advocate and journalist, said that her group heard more details, but added that not enough new information came to light during the almost three-hour-long meeting to dispel the doubts of same participants. “[Merabishvili] detailed their case against our colleagues, but since we have seen no new evidence in particular, I left the meeting with the same impressions that I had when I went in,” said Antadze. The minister declined the group’s request to release the three detained photographers on bail and to release all the government’s evidence, she added. Antadze claimed that First Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze told the group that their refusal to keep the conversation with Merabishvili confidential was the reason why additional evidence was not released at the meeting. Merabishvili, however, promised to declassify the case in time for the trio’s trial, to be held most likely within a month, she said. Initially, September 1 had been set as a trial date. The minister also told both delegations of journalists that the case against Kurtsikidze does not involve the European Pressphoto Agency itself. He claimed that since 2004 Kurtsikidze had been in contact with Russian military intelligence operatives, who were later expelled from Georgia. Reasons for why the ministry decided to wait seven years to press espionage charges are not known. Kurtsikidze and Abdaladze both deny the charges against them. Gedenidze in a police-taped video said that he had supplied photos and materials from the president’s office to Kurtsikidze at the photographer’s request, and had later “realized” that the requests were “connected with a special service.” But many Georgians, especially opposition-minded reporters, take with a grain of salt such videotaped confessions, a common component of high-profile investigations. “The stuff they played on TV I cannot take seriously,” said Lasha Tugushi, editor of Rezonansi (Resonance), a daily known for its government criticism. Tugushi, who once employed Kurtsikidze, questions how photographers could get access to classified information. “Does this mean that any government employee can access secret information any time?” Tugushi asked. “So, some photographer can just walk in, go to a computer, find a top secret folder and get a printout of the documents?” Some photographers and reporters think that the ministry has different ideas from journalists about where reporting ends and espionage begins, and that the accused somehow crossed the line unwittingly. A list of the employees at Georgia’s United Nations mission -- among the information allegedly passed to Russian military intelligence, Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili said in an interview published by the Russian business daily Kommersant -- can be easily found (in Georgian only) on the mission’s website, for instance. Others roundly dismiss the charges as retribution for the three photographers’ professional work -- in particular their coverage of the bloody May 26 clash between riot police and Tbilisi protesters. Gedenidze and Abdaladze both took photos of the clash that were then sold to international wire agencies. Kurtsikidze also supplied images to the European Pressphoto Agency. The clash, however, was covered intensively by many other international news services. The government and presidential administration have objected vehemently to attempts to link the arrests to the issue of press freedom. In a July 12 interview on a television talk show, National Security Council Secretary Giga Bokeria, a former journalist, described the claims as “absolutely incomprehensible.” He went on to rebuke those making such assertions for “ringing … alarm bells” without sufficient grounds, the Civil Georgia news website reported. For its part, the government maintains that the case deals with Gedenidze and Abdaladze in their governmental capacities, not journalists. Freelancer Abdaladze worked both for the government and as a photographer for various Georgian media outlets. But media rights activists claim that without the full declassification of the government’s evidence, such assertions will do little to assure a doubting public. “So long as this case remains classified and the evidence is not available for public scrutiny, this case is taking a toll on Georgia’s free media reputation,” Antadze said.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a freelance journalist based in Tbilisi. He is a frequent contributor to EurasiaNet's Tamada Tales blog.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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