The Internal Affairs Ministry has arrested Mariam Iashvili, who is the wife of Ucha Abashidze, a military blogger arrested two days ago on charges of illegally acquiring and storing firearms and ammunition. The search and investigative actions at Abashidze's house continued for several hours without allowing the lawyers in, which constitutes a limitation of the right to defense. Today, Ucha Abashidze was charged under the article pertaining to the illegal obtaining and keeping of secrets of personal life.
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"When it comes to footage and recordings of personal life, generally this topic, our lawyers have been warned about non-disclosure, and we have also signed the relevant document. Even if it is not so, I am telling you the position of Ucha Abashidze - at this stage, this is the last communication of the lawyers with the media on this matter. The case is sensitive and important, and therefore the defense strategy also includes the fact that communication with the media at this stage does not harm the criminal case and its interests," lawyer Giorgi Makharadze informed journalists.
Mariam Iashvili was arrested today. At a briefing held at the Internal Affairs Ministry, Teimuraz Kupatadze, the Central Criminal Police Department director, stated that the defendants illegally obtained and kept the secrets of various persons' private lives, particularly materials depicting intimate relationships.
"Mariam Iashvili's residential apartment was equipped with disguised video-audio recording devices, which continuously and secretly ensured the illegal recording of her intimate connections with various persons. These recording devices were installed in different parts of the living room, including household items and appliances. Additionally, Mariam Iashvili's contact information was posted on websites offering sexual services. Subsequently, after an agreement or meeting was arranged with a particular person who then visited the mentioned apartment, the accused systematically and illegally recorded their intimate relations without their knowledge, using the specially installed devices," Teimuraz Kupatadze stated.
Ucha Abashidze and Mariam Iashvili are accused of illegally obtaining information containing secrets of hundreds of people's personal lives and storing it in their computer system.
"Based on the study of files containing materials with intimate content, it has been established that citizens of Georgia and other countries are imprinted in them. It should be noted that in the aforementioned records, there are also persons known to the public, whose filming was carried out illegally, without their permission, and, therefore, the secret of their private life was violated," Kupatadze noted.
The Internal Affairs Ministry conducted a search in the apartments of Ucha Abashidze and Mariam Iashvili on May 4, as part of the investigation into the cyber attack on the websites of various state agencies in the Central Criminal Police Department.
As per the Internal Affairs Ministry, during the search of Ucha Abashidze's apartment, the police seized mobile phones, computer equipment, cameras, external memory cards, "Winchesters," video recorders, drones, video surveillance cameras, memory cards, sound recording equipment, sound amplification equipment, optics, and other items.
The ministry also announced that firearms, various special equipment, and cartridges for military use, which the detainee kept illegally, were removed from Abashidze's apartment.
The family stated that all weapons are toys, except for two, which have been officially signed for by Ucha Abashidze. The Internal Affairs Ministry announced today that, based on the conclusion of the ballistic examination, the recovered weapons and cartridges belong to the category of firearms and ammunition and are suitable for use.
Regarding Ucha Abashidze's wife, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that law enforcement officers removed various types of computer and technical devices, as well as memory cards, from Mariam Iashvili's apartment.
"Various types of examinations will be conducted on the current criminal law case, including complex, habidoscopic, and computer-technical examinations. Also, it is worth noting that within the scope of the investigation, a large number of files with intimate content containing secrets of personal life were removed. The study of these files continues in order to identify the affected persons and conduct appropriate investigative actions with them," noted Teimuraz Kupatadze.
Family members, including Mariam Iashvili, associate Ucha Abashidze's arrest with his active participation in anti-Russian rallies. After meeting with Abashidze in the pre-trial detention center, the public defender released information that heindicated psychological pressure and verbal abuse from the police.
