THREE GEORGIAN photographers were convicted of spying for Russia yesterday and freed on suspended sentences, in an abrupt end to a case that focused attention on press freedom and justice in Georgia and government claims that Moscow is spying on the country.
President Mikheil Saakashvili said he was shocked when one of his personal photographers was arrested this month with colleagues who worked for Georgia’s foreign ministry and the German-based European Pressphoto Agency, and charged with passing confidential information to Kremlin agents.
The three men were accused of giving their Russian “handlers” details of the layout of the presidential palace in Tbilisi, the route of Mr Saakashvili’s motorcade, and information about meetings he had with visiting dignitaries.
The photographers initially declared their innocence in vehement terms, and one of them went on hunger strike and published a letter in a Georgian newspaper accusing Mr Saakashvili of punishing them for taking and selling pictures of a recent violent anti-government rally in Tbilisi.
They then abruptly changed their stories and admitted their guilt in confessions that were shown on national television, prompting allegations from their friends and colleagues that the police had forced them to make the statements.
Yesterday, in proceedings that contrasted starkly with the furore that surrounded their arrest, the men were given suspended sentences of two and three years, and released after a 45-minute court hearing.
Prosecutors said the extremely light sentences were appropriate because the men had confessed and provided much useful evidence about Russia’s espionage networks in Georgia.
Plea bargains are a common and non-transparent feature of the Georgian justice system.
“This virtually means a defeat for the government. They had to rush through it because they had no real proof,” said legal activist Eka Beseliya.
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