[Presenter] Information was spread in Tbilisi today that certain people were being interrogated... Law enforcers allowed all the interrogated people who proved to be refugees or citizens of Georgia go back to their homes. Lawyer Sevdia Ugrekhelidze has described the actions taken by police as arrests, saying that the actions are illegal. Our crew is at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from where First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Zurab Chkhaidze will comment on the latest developments.

[Zurab Chkhaidze, interviewed] I must tell you that I honestly do not understand who needs to present the issue from such an angle. Our society is well aware that the number of people entering our country illegally or trespassing across the state border has increased substantially in the past few years. Incidentally, it is worth noting that such people come from various countries. However, many of those are from the North Caucasus. They have lived in our country for a long time without having registered or having proper documents on them. It should also be noted that there are very many so-called fighters, fugitive criminals and, believe it or not, even terrorists among them. We all should admit that it is essential to carry out serious measures against such individuals and such an action will remove major causes of crime and improve the current situation, which has recently been exacerbated.

[Presenter] Chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Defence and Security Irakli Batiashvili is also commenting on the above-mentioned developments.

[Irakli Batiashvili, interviewed] The situation in the country has actually reached an extreme point. The crime rate has reached it peak. It is in its apogee, indeed. I cannot recall the situation with regard to crime being so inflamed in past years, excluding only the period of the civil war [1993]. The criminal underworld has actually launched a crucial attack against the state and our society as a whole. First and foremost, this requires decisive counteractions. All this shows the real seriousness of the shortcomings, to put it mildly, or rather the impotence and vice so widespread within our law- enforcement agencies. I regret to say that there is a direct link between such a build-up of the criminal underworld and the weakness of our law-enforcement agencies.

Source: Georgian Television, Tbilisi, in Georgian 1100 gmt 7 Dec 02