In a front-page article headlined a "Hot phase of the war of compromising materials - what else to expect ahead of elections?” daily Rezonansi reports that three weeks ahead of the 2 October 2021 local elections in Georgia, after multiple files on clerics appeared online, the opposition accused the Georgian Dream authorities of tapping people. Georgian Dream, however, says that the opposition United National Movement (UNM) is staging a "provocation" ahead of the elections, intending to release other "scandalous tapes" online.
Several files said to be leaked from the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) were posted online anonymously on 13 September. The files supposedly contain written information on clerics, including their private life. The information was obtained through tapping since 2014 up to now - under the rule of the Georgian Dream party. The unknown user claimed to have worked for the SSS for years, alleging that the SSS unlawfully tapped people. Georgian Dream rejected any link with the files.
The Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the leaked files and pledged to figure out the truth soon. Rezonansi says that a "black PR campaign" is expected to enter a more active phase as the 2 October local elections draw closer. The files are no longer available online. "Georgian Dream says that the UNM is behind all of it and that publishing the written files is only part of its (broader) plan," the report says citing MP Mamuka Mdinaradze. He believes that the UNM intends to upload more materials online. Mdinaradze is quoted as saying that these files are linked to public figures and are aimed at provoking disorder ahead of the 2 October 2021 elections.
Roman Gotsiridze of the UNM rejects this as a "weak attempt" by Georgian Dream to deny its links with the files. "The time will come, when the SSS collapses and everyone, including those, who issued orders and inspired this repressive surveillance, will be punished," Gotsiridze is quoted as saying. Rezonansi also published Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili's remarks he apparently made in reference to the row caused by the leaked files at a campaign meeting, saying that "every traitor" and "enemy" will receive an "appropriate response" after the 2 October local elections. He accused the opposition of waging war against the Georgian people, the state, and the Georgian Orthodox Church.
