Saakashvili talks of wiretapping, SBU denies
Former Odessa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili said that unknown persons intended to place a special listening device in his hotel room in Chernivtsi.
“Everything would have been fine if at first my bodyguard hadn’t stopped an attempted break-in – and my bodyguard is a professional… he is well versed in protection against such things – a break-in by people with suitcases specific to the Ukrainian SBU. When they came over, they said, as I recall, that they represent some agency. They tried to come inside, he didn’t let them, then they said: “Sorry, wrong room”. Then they went to the room below my room. When our people started to go after them, they left that room, but left things behind,” Saakashvili said in a live stream on his Facebook page.
He then showed a video of the objects which were supposedly discovered in the briefcases.
“These are, as far as I can tell, special wiretapping devices… These are the disks where all the history is recorded… As far as I can tell, these are cameras for recording in rooms, in bedrooms… At a time when an enemy has actually broken down the eastern border, when Ukraine is overrun with spies… At a time when everything is collapsing around them and everything is falling to pieces, they [Ukrainian authorities] spend their time recording my personal life in my hotel rooms,” the politician said.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) called the accusations “baseless”.
“The SBU denies Saakashvili’s baseless accusations regarding an attempt by intelligence agents to ‘wiretap’ him,” the SBU’s response on Facebook stated.
The SBU reiterated that it operates “exclusively within the legal field of Ukrainian legislation and does not carry out such procedures on citizens without a court ruling, regardless of their status”.
It was reported that earlier Saakashvili’s motorcade was stopped by patrol police in Chernivtsi for speeding. The car was going at speeds above 150 kph, and crossed the solid lines several times.