Georgia's public defender accused of disclosing confidential information about human trafficking victims
Georgia ombudsman on human trafficking victims
Activists and opposition representatives have accused Georgia’s Public Defender Levan Ioseliani of disclosing confidential information about the location of a crisis center during an interview with Public Television on January 26, thus putting at risk victims of human trafficking and violence who are sheltering there.
After a wave of criticism on independent media and social networks, the TV channel removed the interview from all digital platforms.
Levan Ioseliani, however, claimed that an “artificial uproar” had been raised around his words.
“The good thing is that now they are talking about crisis centers, because I have long been speaking about the problems faced by these institutions and organizations.
I was accused of disclosing someone’s personal information. But that was not the case. It’s all a matter of interpretation. I did not provide any data about the location of crisis centers,” Levan Ioseliani told Public Television.
Commentary
Nino Lapiashvili, Director of the Institute of European Studies at Tbilisi State University and former head of the European Integration Department at the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs:
“Even the slightest hint of the whereabouts of victims of violence is enough for criminals involved in transnational organized crime to start searching for victims with the intent of physically eliminating witnesses.
Let me explain the situation based on my professional experience.
I was the coordinator of the anti-human trafficking program created within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in 2006-2007. I insisted that access to the victim database should be restricted to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Chief Prosecutor. They could delegate the authority to review specific cases through special orders.
However, other departments pushed to expand the list of people allowed access to the confidential database. There were several rounds of very complicated negotiations, and in the end, my approach prevailed.
The same day the Minister signed the relevant order, the U.S. State Department upgraded Georgia’s rating to the highest in the world, Tier 1.
I write this to say: what the tentacles of transnational organized crime could not achieve in 2006-2007, was accomplished yesterday by the so-called ombudsman Levan Ioseliani, who disclosed the addresses of the secret shelter for victims of human trafficking in his interview.
When the time comes, what happened due to his actions must be investigated and brought to court.
In human trafficking, there are practically no accidental mistakes. This involves a global transnational organized criminal cartel operating on a “zero-sum” principle. They either have to kill witnesses or prepare for the failure of cases involving billions.”
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