The Prosecutor-General\'s Office ordered on 19 February that the premises of the Omega group and of other companies owned by parliament deputy Zaza Okuashvili be sealed and searched, Georgian media reported. Okuashvili also owns the Iberia television station and the newspaper \"Akhali epokha,\" and the sealing of their premises triggered protests that the Georgian authorities were violating the principle of media freedom. Prosecutor-General Irakli Okruashvili told journalists later on 19 February that the search of Omega\'s offices yielded devices to counterfeit excise stamps. The independent television station Rustavi-2 quoted an unnamed spokesman for the Prosecutor-General\'s Office as estimating that Omega, which is Georgia\'s largest cigarette importer, failed to pay excise duties totaling some 12 million laris ($5.8 million). Visiting Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer told journalists after meeting with Okruashvili late on 19 February that \"the struggle against corruption and crime must not exceed the bounds of the law.\" (Caucasus Press)