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Eka Gigauri. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–In Georgia, campaigners are asking people to switch off their mobile phones for one hour on Friday to protest illegal wiretapping.

The campaign ‘This Affects You Too – They Still Listen to Us’ envisages turning off mobile phones every Friday from 13:00 to 14:00, until parliament adopts a legislative package against illegal wiretapping and eavesdropping.

The campaign, which is made up of many NGOs, state that the current practice should be changed and legislative standards should be improved.

“We, participants of the campaign, will turn off our phones every Friday. We suggest that citizens who wish the current practice of illegal wiretapping to be changed do the same,” a joint statement reads.

On Wednesday, ‘This Affects You Too – They Still Listen to Us’ organized demonstrations in Tbilisi, Gori, Rustavi, Batumi, Ozurgeti and other cities in Georgia. Demonstrators called on all majoritarian members of parliament to support changing the Criminal Procedure Code so it regulates eavesdropping.

Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International Georgia, said mobile operators should only allow covert wiretapping after permission by a judge.

“Also, it should be determined in what cases the government should listen to a person, and a group that should be wiretapped must be defined too,” Gigauri said.