CEC Chairman Warns Critical Media of "Revised Cooperation"

"As the parliamentary elections approach, alleged pressure on election administration employees, as well as the illegal processing and use of their personal data, continues to intensify. This time, the issue concerns an alleged attempt by a representative of TV Pirveli to illegally process personal information about election administration employees. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this TV company has attempted to illegally process data related to these employees.

Given that the election administration is completely open to cooperation with all involved parties, including the media, it is unclear why there is a need to process this information. The administration has not been questioned, no information about its employees has been requested, and there is no personal data on election administration employees. The legal basis and legitimate purpose for processing information on family ties and places of employment of these relatives are unclear and naturally raise concerns," said Kalandarishvili.

According to the CEC chairman, neither family ties nor the activities of relatives can be used to assess the work of any election administration employee. Kalandarishvili emphasized that the administration will protect the legal rights of its employees and will not allow any pressure to interfere with their professional duties or influence them in any other way.

"Regarding any violations of these rights, all legal measures will be taken, and international partners will be informed. [...] In the future, if any media outlet violates legal or ethical standards in communication with administration representatives, we will be forced to reconsider our cooperation with them. This would be a necessary step to ensure voters receive objective information about the work of the election administration and its employees," Kalandarishvili said.

Nodar Meladze, head of the news service at TV Pirveli, believes the CEC chairman is attempting to pressure investigative journalists to stop their investigation into the connections of senior CEC officials. Meladze called Kalandarishvili's accusation of illegal data processing a "lie."

"If a journalist finds a phone number or an address to ask questions and verify facts related to specific material, why is that considered illegal data processing? The CEC chairman is threatening us. He says that if journalists continue asking critical questions to employees in informal settings, the CEC will reconsider its relationship with the media. We need to clarify whether this is a threat that our accreditations might be revoked," said Meladze.

In response, Kalandarishvili posted on his Facebook page, accusing 'TV Pirveli' journalists of using "unethical methods of obtaining information," which he described as a form of "psychological pressure." He also clarified that any reconsideration of cooperation would not involve revoking accreditation for journalists. "All media representatives will have the opportunity to cover the election process in accordance with the law," Giorgi Kalandarishvili stated.