Three arrested Georgian photographers charged with spying

[News_Editor]

Three arrested Georgian photographers charged with spying

2011-07-10 02:04:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

TBILISI (BNO NEWS) -- Three of the arrested Georgian photographers were charged with spying for Russia earlier on Saturday, RIA Novosti reported.

Four photojournalists, including Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's personal photographer and his wife, were detained on spying charges on Thursday. They are accused of providing sensitive information to an "organization operating under the patronage of a foreign state's intelligence service."

Georgy Abdaladze, Zurab Kurtsikidze and Irakli Gedenidze are charged with espionage. The lawyers of the photographers, however, said the detained do not admit their guilt. Abdaladze's defender Mikhail Gogadze said the photographer have started a hunger strike.

Georgian Interior Ministry claims that the detainees collaborated with Russia's Defense Ministry. The ministry said Kurtsikidze passed sensitive government information to Russia with the help of Gedenidze Abdaladze.

"The investigation found that Zurab Kurtsikidze was associated with members of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate," the Georgian ministry's statement reads. "In particular, for a reward Irakli Gedenidze and George Abdaladze while performing their official duties, were able to take photos that contain sensitive information, and send them to Kurtsikidze."

The ministry added that investigators found photographs of schemes of the Georgian president's administrative building, information about routes of movement and other sensitive data.

Georgia's opposition leader and former United Nations Ambassador Irakli Alasania said on Friday that it is alarming when photo correspondents and journalists are detained in a country where freedom of the press is seriously limited. A spokeswoman for the Georgian president, however, said earlier on Friday that the detention of the photojournalists is not related to their professional activities.

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