Georgian Parliament official accuses NGO Sapari of disinformation, then archive destruction

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, on Saturday accused the domestic NGO Sapari of conducting a disinformation campaign and then destroying its archives.

Ionatamishvili’s comments came in response to Sapari head Baia Pataraia's statement that the organisation had destroyed a significant portion of its archives to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

Ionatamishvili suggested that Sapari initially attempted to mislead the public, particularly regarding personal data, before proceeding with the destruction of what he termed “unclear archives”.

“First, they carried out a disinformation campaign and tried to deceive the public, especially concerning personal data, and then they started destroying these unclear archives. This gave me the impression that they were creating an alibi the day before for exactly what they would do the next day. Therefore, it seems the only thing evident is how afraid these people are that the public will become even more informed about their specific activities. Apparently, their fears are not unfounded”, the Parliament official said.