Media received files allegedly leaked from the State Security Service of Georgia [SSSG], which contain personal data on clerics.

The media outlets received a link to the files from “Hakim Pasha”, titled “SSSG’s compromising materials against Patriarchate”.

The unidentified sender writes that he had spent several years working in the SSSG, “the agency which is the biggest threat to the country, which listens to everyone and which has made the church one of the biggest evils in Georgia”.

The files allegedly contain data obtained via illegal surveillance since 2014, under the Georgian Dream government.

The files contain personal data of top clerics. Some of the files point at alleged crimes like sexual relations with minors, taking bribes in exchange for mediation to pardon an inmate, spying for Russia and other crimes.