The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and Transparency International Georgia have filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice over alleged illegal wiretapping of lawyers and civil activists by the State Security Service.

Representatives of non-governmental organizations and plaintiffs held a briefing today, stating that the lawsuit is filed in two directions - compliance of Georgian law with the standards of the Convention on wiretapping and ineffective investigation.

"Last year, on August 1, then on September 13, SSG reports were disseminated, which included the personal and business conversations of human rights activists, journalists, and representatives of non-governmental organizations. After that, a number of people identified themselves and applied to the investigation. Unfortunately, throughout this period there has been no indication from the investigating authorities of the progress of the investigation. The Prosecutor's Office and the court constantly refuse to grant these people the status of victims. GYLA and Transparency International Georgia, with the support of the Open Society Foundations, have filed their first lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights. The lawsuit is filed in two directions - one is the compliance of Georgian legislation with the standards of the Convention regarding wiretapping and the other is an ineffective investigation. We appealed to the General Prosecutor for a meeting and an effective investigation, but to no avail. We expect that this case will be crucial and Georgian legislation will change. On the other hand, we will be able to investigate cases in which many people have applied to the investigative bodies.

The lawsuit also demands that the court grants it a so-called impact case status - this means a case that has an impact on other types of cases," said David Jandieri, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs in the case.

source: IPN