One Georgian citizen arrested for espionage in favor of a foreign country, two people will be charged in absentia - SSU

As a result of counterintelligence measures carried out by employees of the Counterintelligence Department of the State Security Service, one Georgian citizen has been arrested for espionage, on charges of collecting and transmitting information on behalf of employees of a foreign special service. Lasha Maghradze, First Deputy Head of the SSU, stated this at a briefing.

According to him, the evidence collected in the criminal case has established that the detained person was recruited by a foreign special service and was given a corresponding pseudonym. An employee of a foreign special service instructed a Georgian citizen to collect various types of information for the purpose of transmitting it to a foreign special service in exchange for a certain amount of money, against the interests of Georgia.

“The investigation has established that the person detained for espionage was tasked with collecting information in Georgia in the following areas:

-About the locations, forces and means of the Georgian law enforcement agencies: the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense. As well as taking photos and videos of their locations.

-About the location of strategic facilities in Georgia - including bridges, highways and railways and other facilities, as well as taking photos, videos of the aforementioned places, etc.

The Counterintelligence Department has also exposed two Georgian citizens in a similar crime, who were recruited by employees of the same foreign special service and, in accordance with the received assignment, collected various types of information to the detriment of the interests of Georgia and transferred it to representatives of the foreign special service.

Due to the specificity of the case, in order to accurately study the details of the crime, within the framework of the investigation, for a long time Relevant operational and investigative measures were underway.

The detainee will be charged with espionage under Part 1 of Article 314 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for imprisonment for a term of eight to twelve years.

As for the two other persons mentioned above, who are currently not in Georgia, they will be charged in absentia with espionage under Part 1 of Article 314 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. An international search will be announced through Interpol for the persons in hiding,” Maghradze said.