The Soviet Union "there" and "here"

Image removed.My operational officer, who listens to my phone conversations between his smoking breaks and “Solitaire”, is of course a bastard, but a lazy bastard, who will by no means tear himself away from fulfilling his obligations. Photo: Liberali

The Abkhaz government had never seriously interfered in my life, until I have started communicating with my Georgian colleagues.

Problems started with the introduction of a new system of telephone numbers in Abkhazia; one has to dial Russian +7 instead of Georgian +995. However, those who tried to contact me from Georgia have encountered the problems, and not me.

Due to certain political or technical restrictions, it is very difficult to connect to the "separatist and occupied" telephone numbers from Tbilisi; the situation becomes comic, because even if you manage to reach a person, you will hear unbearable rustle at the background of the conversation. Hello, comrade operational officer on duty!

Let’s imagine the appearance of this operational officer – he must be a man in his 40s with a bald spot on the back of his head and with a rank of no less than that of a lieutenant.

He was previously a promising young university student, but the war, the post-war situation and a lack of the special skills transformed him into an ordinary IT specialist. His Soviet-time interest in radio technologies made him to end up working in the special service.

Since he had no connections with influential people, he became an ordinary operational officer. I can even see his office full of Soviet-time equipment and ashtrays filled with cigarettes, and the modern computers looking like an achievement of the alien civilization in the situation like this. My agent skilfully deals with “Solitaire” in his computer, preparing the MP3 file for his boss with the name "Akhra Smyr, the journalist" between his breaks. This is how my agent looks like.

Now I will try to describe a Georgian operational officer, although my description will be a bit less convincing. I can imagine a young man, looking impudent and having a good education according to Georgian standards. This young man as well has at least the rank of a lieutenant. His English language skills are perfect, but like his Abkhaz colleague, his occupation also is listening to telephone conversations, telephone tapping. Of course, he is doing it for the sake of his homeland. His office in a glass building is filled with ergonomic furniture and equipment. He does not play “Solitaire” and generally never waists his time for doing anything else than his job. His monitor displays a data about various groups of people. Different correspondence, movements and conversations of tens and hundreds of “unreliable” people are recorded by specially prepared programs. Thanks to this operational officer and those alike loyal knights of the revolution, yet another attempted coup was prevented recently. A Georgian policeman – this is a new authority of Georgia; Georgian government’s strength depends on the efficiency of these policemen. But meantime, a policeman dreams of something more than that.

These two agents provide an approximate image of who "we" are and who "they" are today.

My operational officer, who listens to my phone conversations between his smoking breaks and “Solitaire”, is of course a bastard, but a lazy bastard, who will by no means tear himself away from fulfilling his obligations.

He does not believe that by listening to the conversations, sometimes harmless and sometimes even filled with obscenities, between journalist Akhra Smyr and his Georgian colleagues, he serves his country. He certainly knows that these conversations do not and cannot contain anything that can endanger his country's security. My agent is not proud of his job and most probably is not boasting of it among his friends. I suppose he responds with a sad smile to my greeting: "Hello, comrade operational officer on duty!" In real life, he most probably drives an old Opel car in the streets of Sukhumi, giving half of his miserable salary to “gaishniks” (policemen) waiting for it. His wife was informed lately that school fee is to increase. He does not care about state affairs, so he works precisely as much as it is demanded from him. It will continue so until his retirement.

His Georgian colleague perceives everything in a different manner. He is very enthusiastic. He believes that he has to protect the Rose Revolution. He realizes that high treason is hidden in all those seemingly harmless conversations he follows day and night. High treason is in every corner and it is crucial to combat it. The photographers were probably not criminals at all, but their views and irresponsible behaviour of spreading the photos of the 26th May rally dispersal through foreign agencies, equals the crime.

My Abkhaz operational officer sometimes has a drink together with his university fellows. In the moments of honesty he admits: "You know, this phone tapping is inertial, we are unable to get rid of those Soviet habits. Let journalist Akhra Smyr talk with whoever he wishes to and write whatever he wants to. He is no danger for us; corruption and dysfunctional state apparatus are the biggest dangers for our country. And people like me, lazy and with no initiative, is yet another danger. We are the last screws of the Soviet machine with expiring operational time, which will very soon come to an end". He might express his opinion more sharply in reality, but I am sure about the content in general terms.

Comparing the two invented characters, I sympathize the first agent but not because he is my compatriot; he is the last element of the breaking Soviet system, which will hopefully be replaced with something better. The new system will definitely be much freer, fairer, more effective and functional. Meantime, my agent’s Georgian colleague is a product of a new Soviet system; with his arbitrariness and offhanded interference in citizens' life he is confident that playing with peoples’ fate in the name of the state’s interests is permissible.

The terminology used in the article belongs to the author and not “Liberali”.

The article is prepared with support of Heinrich Boell Foundation. The publication statements and ideas do not necessarily express the Heinrich Boell Foundation opinion.