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05.10.2008
Eurasian Security Services Daily Review
AIA
REVIEW TOPICS:Georgian secret services accused of bombing Russian
peacemakers' HQs in Tskhinvali No injured in explosion at Ingushetia
FSB building in Malgobek Heads of CIS security and intelligence
services to meet in Armenian capital Yerevan Azerbaijan to create
special agency for Internet securityFormer Kazakh spy chief was
injured hurt in suspected kidnap bid ` Austrian officialsLeft
opposition unhappy with with Institute for the Study of Totalitarian
Regime in Czech Republic Czech mayors comment on Russian activity
buying up land around US radar site Estonian intelligence gathers
information for CIA and MI6 in Russia - Russian newspaperScandal
connected with print-outs of Bulgarian parliament members' phone calls
continuesParliamentary subcommittee to deal with Bulgaria's SANS
proposed by Prime MinisterJournalists reportedly shadowed by
Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security
Georgian secret services accused of bombing Russian
peacemakers' HQs in Tskhinvali
Georgia denies any connection with an explosion at the staff of the
Russian peacemakers in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, news agencies are
reporting, referring to the statement of the Ministry of Interior of
Georgia, published on an official site of the ministry. The Ministry
of Interior of Georgia considers that it was "a provocation arranged
by the Russian special services with the purpose to slow down
conclusion of the Russian occupational troops from the territory
adjoining to disputed zones".
Meanwhile the official representative of the Investigatory Committee
of the Russian Federation General Prosecutor's Office, Vladimir
Markin, announced that investigation `has all the grounds to assume
that the Georgian special services have arranged this explosion', news
agency Interfax reports.
According to all available information, 11 persons were killed in an
explosion at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeepers: militaries
and local inhabitants, including the chief of a staff of the
peace-making contingent in South Ossetia, Colonel Ivan Petrik.
No injured in explosion at Ingushetia FSB building in Malgobek
A bomb exploded yesterday under a motor vehicle at a parking place
near the building of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)
regional directorate in Ingushetia's Malgobek, news agency Interfax
reports, noting that there were no injured.
"The incident occurred in first half of Saturday, October 4. A
suspicious item was discovered at a parking place near the FSB
building under a parked car; the item appeared a self-made
explosive. The explosion has occurred shortly before a special-task
unit and explosives' experts arrived to the site", according to a
source from the Malgobek area law enforcement bodies.
News agency adds that an operatively-investigative group has been
working at the site and the circumstances of the crime have been
established.
The Ministry of Interior of Ingushetia specified that the inicident
took place at 09:00 Moscow time on October 4. An explosive of small
capacity was put under a Toyota car which belonged to one of employees
of the FSB directorate.
Heads of CIS security and intelligence services to meet in Armenian
capital Yerevan
News agency APA reports that the heads of security and intelligence
services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will gather
in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan to attend the joint session on
October 20-23.
Shortly before that ministers of defence of the CIS countries will
assemble in Russia's St. Petersburg to participate in the regular
meeting on October 15-16, APA notes.
Azerbaijan to create special agency for Internet security
Azerbaijan will soon launch a special agency for Internet security,
news agency APA reports, referring to Iltimas Mammadov, Azerbaijan's
Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies.
The deputy minister added that this agency would deal with problems in
the Web resources.
This year Azerbaijan joined the Convention on Cybercrime that is the
first international treaty seeking to address cybercrime and Internet
crimes by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative
techniques and increasing cooperation among nations, APA adds.
Former Kazakh spy chief was injured hurt in suspected kidnap bid `
Austrian officials
AIA already reported that Kazakhstan's former National Security
Committee (KNB) chief Alnur Musayev, who is living in exile in
Austria, was seriously injured recently in Vienna. News agency France
Presse reports that he was attacked in a suspected abduction bid,
according to the Austrian state prosecutors' office statement.
Musayev was the head of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee
between 1997 and 2001.He was attacked by three men late September when
he was walking near the city's university, in "what could have been an
attempted abduction," prosecutor's office spokesman Gerhard Jarosch
told the APA news agency.
In her turn, Michaela Renner, from the state prosecutor's office, told
news agency AFP that Musayev had been "seriously injured" in the
attack which happened on September 22; his attackers escaped.
Left opposition unhappy with with Institute for the Study of
Totalitarian Regime in Czech Republic
The InterPressService (IPS) in its latest review has focused on the
role of the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and
government's attitude to its findings.
The Czech parliament last year approved the creation of the Institute
for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes to collect, analyse and publish
documents on the Nazi and Communist periods in Czech lands, giving
particular attention to the activities of the communist secret
services. A former prime minister, two former cabinet ministers, a
presidential candidate, a state attorney and an archbishop are some of
the high-ranking figures that have recently faced accusations of
cooperating with the communist secret services.
"Seeking for StB (the state security service of former Czechoslovakia)
collaborators is still an important activity. Czech people must learn
that immoral behaviour can't pay off," Lukas Cvrcek, a historian at
the Institute told IPS.
The social-democratic opposition and the communists are unhappy with
the Institute, and fear that personal information can be selectively
used to discredit political opponents.
According to Czech law, members of the former ruling Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia cadres, StB agents or officers and graduates of
Soviet intelligence schools are banned from taking important functions
in the state administration.
Cvrcek reminds critics that the controversial institute is not the
country's highest authority. "When somebody believes the conclusions
of our institute are wrong, he can litigate for defamation before an
independent court," he told IPS. The case of state attorney Radim
Obst raised suspicions how the government will treat the
material. Obst was accused in 2007 of cooperating with the StB just as
he investigated a corruption scandal involving a leading politician of
the right-wing coalition. He was cleared of the accusation only after
his replacement Arif Salichov hastily dismissed the corruption case.
Czech mayors comment on Russian activity buying up land around US
radar site Czech newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes writes that Russians are
trying to acquire land plots in Brdy where the US antimissile radar is
to be located near Prague, referring to Deputy Defence Minister Martin
Bartak. "It is one of the activities that can be anticipated," the
paper cites Bartak saying at the Czech Television's Vaclav Moravec
Questions discussion program.
The annual report of the Military Intelligence has been published this
week, Mlada fronta Dnes marks. Like the BIS [Security Information
Service] report released a few days ago, the military's report is
warning that foreign agents in the Czech Republic actively seek to
influence the public opinion against the radar. According to Bartak,
the two secret services are actively preventing the Russians from
buying out land plots in the vicinity of the future radar. "Strategic
premises and territories will not go to unauthorized hands, be it
around the radar station or elsewhere," he said.
The mayors of Jince and Rozmital Pod Tremsinem reacted to the deputy
defence minister's words by saying that they did not know about any
larger scale buying up of land plots. Miroslav Leitermann, the mayor
of Nepomuk, has received different information. "Russians are those
who have both the money and the interest. We, as a municipality, can
do nothing about it," Mlada Fronta Dnes was told by Leitermann.
On 25 September, the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) released
its annual report on internal security threats, saying that "The
intelligence services of the Russian Federation have attempted in the
past year to contact, infiltrate and influence people and
organizations that have influence on public opinion," Reuters
reported. "Russian espionage activities in the Czech Republic
currently reach an exceptionally high intensity." A few days later, on
29 September, Military Intelligence seconded the BIS, noting in its
own annual report "a concrete interest" but also releasing no concrete
details.
On 28 September, a Czech Defense Ministry official even suggested that
the country's secret services had actively fought attempts by Russians
to purchase parcels of land around the future site of the radar
station. That was news to at least one mayor of a nearly town,
according to the daily Mlada fronta Dnes, which claimed that no one
wanted to buy any of the town's land now that the station would be
built only six kilometers away.
The mention of Russian spies on Czech territory took no one by
surprise, though this was the first time the security service reports
had asserted Russian intentions so openly - at least in the versions
released to the public. Already several years ago, the BIS estimated
that between 40-50 percent of the diplomats and officials working in
the Russian embassy and its consulates doubled as security personnel
for one Russian intelligence agency or another. Others allegedly
function as journalists or employees of various Russian firms.
Saar's passport
Estonian intelligence gathers information for CIA and MI6 in
Russia - Russian newspaper
It is interesting that without any particular reason the Moscow-based
daily Izvestia has published an article reviewing activity of
intelligence agencies of Estonia. The paper says Estonians have been
trying to create a secret service network in Russia and the Russian
FSB mared an increased activity of agents of this country. Estonian
agents have been trying to recruit Russian militaries and have been
threatening those who have relatives in Estonia, the daily newspaper
alleges. Izvestia concludes that Estonian intelligence services are
operating not only in their owninterests, and they are serving to
their American and British counterparts. In 2005, the ambassador of
Estonia in Russia even received a note of protest in connection with
the frequent attempts of recruitment of the Russian citizens.
On August 20, a citizen of Estonia, Allan Saar, left Russia after the
FSB showed him a notice on undesirability of his stay in the Russian
territory. The Russian counterspies paid attention to Estonian
businessman Allan Saar following a certain signal from an officer of
one of military divisions, Izvestia expands. Saar who was often
visiting Russia, persuasively tried to make friends with Russian
militaries. After shadowing Saar for a while, the FSB officers soon
got satisfied that he tried to unsuccessfully obtain classified
information from the militaries.
FSB operatives were sent to the hotel where Saar was staying, they
read a notice to him, he familiarized himself with it, signed it and
reportedly admitted that he had worked under orders of the Estonian
Security Police, known also as KaPo. Saar expressed desire to leave
Russia as soon as possible.
The most known agent of the Estonian special services was Russian
border guard Igor Vyalkov. He worked at one of check-points in
Russia's Pskov oblast, visited the local FSB directorate on a regular
basis, knew many of its employees, was aware of situation at the
border. He himself contacted the KaPo and in the beginning transferred
some information on the regional FSB directorate employees to the
Estonian counterintelligence.
Vyalkov used to introduce himself as a security officer who was simply
attached to the border guard service; he even made a false
certificate. The Estonian employers believed him and demanded serious
information. Vyalkov studied in the Academy of the Border Guard
Service and under a pretext of writing of thesis he started to achieve
the admission to departmental periodicals of the FSB. He even in
written form addressed to the leadership of the FSB Pskov directorate
with the request to give him a number those periodicals from previous
years.Vyalkov's shadowing revealed that on a regular basis he
illegally crossed the state border to meet his curator, KaPo officer
Zoya Tint. According to Izvestia, Vyalkov was caught red-handed. The
court sentenced Igor Vyalkova to 10 years of imprisonment.
Estonian KaPo has been trying to recruit the Russians coming to
Estonia to visit friends or relatives. Military doctor Sergei
Baktyukov several times visited an old friend in Tallinn. Once his
introduced him to a person who appeared to be the KaPo head Juri
Pihl. Later he got acquainted also with Pihl's deputy Alus Aldis who
was simply interested in his service. When Baktyukov arrived to
Tallinn next time, he was met by other KaPo officers who in a rigid
form explained that he had already disclosed some classified
information and now he had to work for them. When Baktyukov told the
agents that he did not know any secrets he was suggested to recruit
his own son, a student of one of military schools. Baktyukov left
Estonia the same day and immediately addressed the FSB, Izvestia
writes .
According to the FSB, the analysis of the KaPo activity unequivocally
shows that Estonians do not work only for themselves, they deliver the
major share of information to the US, British and Scandinavian
intelligence.
Russian intelligence agencies do not have doubts that the Estonian
intelligence already for a long time has turned almost to a branch of
the US CIA and British MI6, Izvestia writes. The paper recalls a
certain Valery Oyamae, a former officer of the Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service who worked at the same time for both, the KaPo
and the British MI6. Using his contacts, Oyamae collected and
transferred data about ways of rendering of operating influence to the
Russian politicians, about the Russian agents in British and American
intelligence agencies and establishments, about personnel structure of
the FSB and other classified information. KaPo's Zoya Tint was also
his contact. Oyamae was arrested in 2000 and sentenced to 7 years of
imprisonment, however, he died in prison on 2003.
Parliamentary subcommittee to deal with Bulgaria's SANS proposed by
Prime Minister
According to Prime Minister and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP) Sergei Stanishev, it would be more effective to have a
subcommittee within the framework of the parliamentary Interior
Security and Public Order Committee the deal with the operation of the
State Agency for National Security (SANS). Stanishev made this
statement at a news conference yesterday which followed a BSP
plenum. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the party's Executive
Bureau the previous day, Stanishev said.
According to daily Klassa, Bulgaria's President Georgi Purvanov is
against members of parliament probe into SANS and the Interior
Ministry. Politicians should not interfere in the security structures,
he said in Plovdiv, where he opened the International Technical Fair
Autumn 2008.
Daily Trud quotes President Georgi Purvanov as saying that there is no
conflict at SANS. "I think that what has happened and the subsequent
scandal is much ado about nothing," he noted.
Meanwhile Interior Minister Mihail Mikov is cited by the paper as
saying that the control over the special surveillance means and the
printouts of phone calls is strictly regulated.
Scandal connected with print-outs of Bulgarian parliament members'
phone calls continues
Bulgarian have been keeping commenting the scandal which erupted last
week when some members of parliament told the media that the State
Agency for National Security (SANS) had requested print-outs of their
phone calls.
Members of parliament Iliana Yotova told the daily Trud that the worst
thing would be if a battle between different clans started at the
SANS. Europe will either write its next report on Bulgaria on the
basis of development of this scandal, or will write no reports any
more. "The most terrifying thing is that the agency, which we hoped to
start a real fight against top level corruption, might be called
"political police" only a few months after its establishment," she
added. According to her, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and the
parliament should take urgent measures for overcoming the crisis. If
the goal is to discredit the agency, its authors should be named and
they should bear all consequences, Yotova added.
Daily 24 Chasa carries an interview with Justice Minister Meglena
Tacheva, who said she has assigned to the experts of her ministry
working on a bill amending the Special Surveillance Means Act to
prepare a text providing for a procedure for receiving, using, storing
and destroying such print-outs.
The scandal about the State Agency for National Security (SANS) burst
out because they do not know who would be the next one, Prime Minister
Sergei Stanishev told the parliament, as quoted by 24 Chasa. Stanishev
recalled the successful SANS raids of the recent weeks and concluded
that it was mainly these operations that have caused discomfort among
certain people. They sought "to discredit a good undertaking". "I
would never let SANS be used for conducting surveillance of
journalists," Stanishev also stated adding that the probes in question
were promoted by the leakage of classified information. Every
self-respecting state service would conduct an investigation into such
leakage, he noted. Daily Sega also writes on the issue saying that the
Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office has requested to extend the range
of crimes, for which special surveillance means could be used. The
proposal is to employ such means in the investigation of serious
crimes against the financial, tax and social security systems as
well. The Capital runs an interview with member of parliament Tatyana
Doncheva, who says that "personnel changes are needed at SANS". It was
namely Doncheva that made the scandalous disclosures last week. she
adds, however, that there are no grounds to deny the institution.
The past week has shown clearly that wiretapping people is not only
inefficient: it is done with no
serious safeguards against abuses, 24 Chasa says. According to the
article, the only safeguard could be a parliamentary committee to
check every 3, 6 or 12 months, how many phones have been wiretapped,
how many printouts have been requested for peoples' phone calls and
whether these have been meticulously reported in documents. It would
be still better for the Interior Ministry to rely more on real agents
and less on special surveillance means, the analysis reads.
In an interview to 24 Chasa, IMRO leader Krassimir Karakachanov says
it would be even OK for SANS to arrest members of parliament but only
if this is done in keeping with the law. He said it makes sense to
think that all the publicity around SANS in the recent days is more or
less meant to divert attention from some of its operations. He is
adamant that the special services should be allowed to do their job,
even if it means wiretapping and arresting members of parliament - as
long as it is lawfull. "When SANS was being created, I proposed that a
parliamentary committee be set up under the leadership of the
opposition to control the special services. This would be the only
guarantee that they are not used for political purposes," Karakachanov
says. Daily Trud publishes an article by former Interior Ministry
chief secretary Todor Boyadjiev. In his view there is no reason to
compare SANS with the political police of the totalitarian
societies. In his view it is quite natural to order printouts of calls
of politicians, who maintain contacts with persons, being targets to
surveillance and prosecutor orders. According to Boyadjiev, the only
weakness relates to the fact that the presidential institution and the
NGOs remained isolated upon the establishment of SANS. The Dnevnik
refers to parliamentary sources as saying that the scandal has been
prompted by internal bickering within SANS. This paper quotes Yonko
Grozdev of the Centre for Liberal Strategies as saying that the Agency
was set up "because of the control over the services rather than to
fight corruption". According to Grozdev, it was a mistake to set up
the Agency based on the existing intelligence services without vesting
it with investigative powers.
Journalists reportedly shadowed by Bulgaria's State Agency for
National Security
The Bulgarian daily 24 Chasa gives prominence to a new scandal that
has burst out in the public spectrum: 50 journalists, editors-in-chief
and owners of media were covered by a July surveillance of the State
Agency for National Security (SANS), code-named, Gallery. The
surveillance was reportedly prompted by the leakage of
information. Initially, its object was the Opasnite Novini [Dangerous
News] website and it, eventually, extended to tabloids, large TVs and
serious papers.
Daily Monitor writes about the issue citing Eliana Masseva, member of
parliament of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). In this way SANS
was allegedly trying to establish control over the whole media network
in the country. SANS is assuming the role of political police, Masseva
says in an interview for the Monitor. In her view the surveillance
against the media was prompted by the negative paper stories against
the Government and the Prime Minister.
"I would never let SANS be used for conducting surveillance of
journalists," Stanishev also stated adding that the probes in question
were promoted by the leakage of classified information. Every
self-respecting state service would conduct an investigation into such
leakage, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev noted, according to 24 Chasa.
Trud frontpages a remark by the chief of the State Agency for National
Security (SANS), Petko Sertov, who said that he would resign if any
journalist working for media organizations which are affiliated with
the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria and the Union of the Bulgarian
National Electronic Media, has been eavesdropped or put under
surveillance. Sertov was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of the
two organizations. The chiefs of leading Bulgarian media organizations
requested an emergency meeting with the SANS head over allegations
that SANS has wiretapped journalists of all media as part of an
operation code-named Gallery. Sertov is quoted saying that such an
operation does exist but it did not include eavesdropping journalists
over their work.
A commentary in daily Sega says that when the wiretapping of
journalists is made public, the message is for the said journalists'
sources to keep their mouths shut. "The brunt of the campaign is now
on the sources in order to spare the public information which is
important for it but sensitive for the government. In this line of
reasoning, the silence of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and the
downplaying of the issue by President Georgi Purvanov come as a
surprise. Their support for SANS in this situation is shortsightedness
at best."
The Zemya reports that Interior Minister Mihail Mikov and SANS' chief
Sertov did not show up in the parliament and left it to member of
parliament Kassim Dal to read out their report on the case of the
assaulted journalists Ognyan Stefanov. The members of parliament of
the opposition had expected Mikov and Sertov to come to Parliament in
person to answer their questions, and protested against the written
report saying that it offered no significant information.
Previous review
05.10.2008
Eurasian Security Services Daily Review
AIA
REVIEW TOPICS:Georgian secret services accused of bombing Russian
peacemakers' HQs in Tskhinvali No injured in explosion at Ingushetia
FSB building in Malgobek Heads of CIS security and intelligence
services to meet in Armenian capital Yerevan Azerbaijan to create
special agency for Internet securityFormer Kazakh spy chief was
injured hurt in suspected kidnap bid ` Austrian officialsLeft
opposition unhappy with with Institute for the Study of Totalitarian
Regime in Czech Republic Czech mayors comment on Russian activity
buying up land around US radar site Estonian intelligence gathers
information for CIA and MI6 in Russia - Russian newspaperScandal
connected with print-outs of Bulgarian parliament members' phone calls
continuesParliamentary subcommittee to deal with Bulgaria's SANS
proposed by Prime MinisterJournalists reportedly shadowed by
Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security
Georgian secret services accused of bombing Russian
peacemakers' HQs in Tskhinvali
Georgia denies any connection with an explosion at the staff of the
Russian peacemakers in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, news agencies are
reporting, referring to the statement of the Ministry of Interior of
Georgia, published on an official site of the ministry. The Ministry
of Interior of Georgia considers that it was "a provocation arranged
by the Russian special services with the purpose to slow down
conclusion of the Russian occupational troops from the territory
adjoining to disputed zones".
Meanwhile the official representative of the Investigatory Committee
of the Russian Federation General Prosecutor's Office, Vladimir
Markin, announced that investigation `has all the grounds to assume
that the Georgian special services have arranged this explosion', news
agency Interfax reports.
According to all available information, 11 persons were killed in an
explosion at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeepers: militaries
and local inhabitants, including the chief of a staff of the
peace-making contingent in South Ossetia, Colonel Ivan Petrik.
No injured in explosion at Ingushetia FSB building in Malgobek
A bomb exploded yesterday under a motor vehicle at a parking place
near the building of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)
regional directorate in Ingushetia's Malgobek, news agency Interfax
reports, noting that there were no injured.
"The incident occurred in first half of Saturday, October 4. A
suspicious item was discovered at a parking place near the FSB
building under a parked car; the item appeared a self-made
explosive. The explosion has occurred shortly before a special-task
unit and explosives' experts arrived to the site", according to a
source from the Malgobek area law enforcement bodies.
News agency adds that an operatively-investigative group has been
working at the site and the circumstances of the crime have been
established.
The Ministry of Interior of Ingushetia specified that the inicident
took place at 09:00 Moscow time on October 4. An explosive of small
capacity was put under a Toyota car which belonged to one of employees
of the FSB directorate.
Heads of CIS security and intelligence services to meet in Armenian
capital Yerevan
News agency APA reports that the heads of security and intelligence
services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will gather
in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan to attend the joint session on
October 20-23.
Shortly before that ministers of defence of the CIS countries will
assemble in Russia's St. Petersburg to participate in the regular
meeting on October 15-16, APA notes.
Azerbaijan to create special agency for Internet security
Azerbaijan will soon launch a special agency for Internet security,
news agency APA reports, referring to Iltimas Mammadov, Azerbaijan's
Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies.
The deputy minister added that this agency would deal with problems in
the Web resources.
This year Azerbaijan joined the Convention on Cybercrime that is the
first international treaty seeking to address cybercrime and Internet
crimes by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative
techniques and increasing cooperation among nations, APA adds.
Former Kazakh spy chief was injured hurt in suspected kidnap bid `
Austrian officials
AIA already reported that Kazakhstan's former National Security
Committee (KNB) chief Alnur Musayev, who is living in exile in
Austria, was seriously injured recently in Vienna. News agency France
Presse reports that he was attacked in a suspected abduction bid,
according to the Austrian state prosecutors' office statement.
Musayev was the head of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee
between 1997 and 2001.He was attacked by three men late September when
he was walking near the city's university, in "what could have been an
attempted abduction," prosecutor's office spokesman Gerhard Jarosch
told the APA news agency.
In her turn, Michaela Renner, from the state prosecutor's office, told
news agency AFP that Musayev had been "seriously injured" in the
attack which happened on September 22; his attackers escaped.
Left opposition unhappy with with Institute for the Study of
Totalitarian Regime in Czech Republic
The InterPressService (IPS) in its latest review has focused on the
role of the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and
government's attitude to its findings.
The Czech parliament last year approved the creation of the Institute
for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes to collect, analyse and publish
documents on the Nazi and Communist periods in Czech lands, giving
particular attention to the activities of the communist secret
services. A former prime minister, two former cabinet ministers, a
presidential candidate, a state attorney and an archbishop are some of
the high-ranking figures that have recently faced accusations of
cooperating with the communist secret services.
"Seeking for StB (the state security service of former Czechoslovakia)
collaborators is still an important activity. Czech people must learn
that immoral behaviour can't pay off," Lukas Cvrcek, a historian at
the Institute told IPS.
The social-democratic opposition and the communists are unhappy with
the Institute, and fear that personal information can be selectively
used to discredit political opponents.
According to Czech law, members of the former ruling Communist Party
of Czechoslovakia cadres, StB agents or officers and graduates of
Soviet intelligence schools are banned from taking important functions
in the state administration.
Cvrcek reminds critics that the controversial institute is not the
country's highest authority. "When somebody believes the conclusions
of our institute are wrong, he can litigate for defamation before an
independent court," he told IPS. The case of state attorney Radim
Obst raised suspicions how the government will treat the
material. Obst was accused in 2007 of cooperating with the StB just as
he investigated a corruption scandal involving a leading politician of
the right-wing coalition. He was cleared of the accusation only after
his replacement Arif Salichov hastily dismissed the corruption case.
Czech mayors comment on Russian activity buying up land around US
radar site Czech newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes writes that Russians are
trying to acquire land plots in Brdy where the US antimissile radar is
to be located near Prague, referring to Deputy Defence Minister Martin
Bartak. "It is one of the activities that can be anticipated," the
paper cites Bartak saying at the Czech Television's Vaclav Moravec
Questions discussion program.
The annual report of the Military Intelligence has been published this
week, Mlada fronta Dnes marks. Like the BIS [Security Information
Service] report released a few days ago, the military's report is
warning that foreign agents in the Czech Republic actively seek to
influence the public opinion against the radar. According to Bartak,
the two secret services are actively preventing the Russians from
buying out land plots in the vicinity of the future radar. "Strategic
premises and territories will not go to unauthorized hands, be it
around the radar station or elsewhere," he said.
The mayors of Jince and Rozmital Pod Tremsinem reacted to the deputy
defence minister's words by saying that they did not know about any
larger scale buying up of land plots. Miroslav Leitermann, the mayor
of Nepomuk, has received different information. "Russians are those
who have both the money and the interest. We, as a municipality, can
do nothing about it," Mlada Fronta Dnes was told by Leitermann.
On 25 September, the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) released
its annual report on internal security threats, saying that "The
intelligence services of the Russian Federation have attempted in the
past year to contact, infiltrate and influence people and
organizations that have influence on public opinion," Reuters
reported. "Russian espionage activities in the Czech Republic
currently reach an exceptionally high intensity." A few days later, on
29 September, Military Intelligence seconded the BIS, noting in its
own annual report "a concrete interest" but also releasing no concrete
details.
On 28 September, a Czech Defense Ministry official even suggested that
the country's secret services had actively fought attempts by Russians
to purchase parcels of land around the future site of the radar
station. That was news to at least one mayor of a nearly town,
according to the daily Mlada fronta Dnes, which claimed that no one
wanted to buy any of the town's land now that the station would be
built only six kilometers away.
The mention of Russian spies on Czech territory took no one by
surprise, though this was the first time the security service reports
had asserted Russian intentions so openly - at least in the versions
released to the public. Already several years ago, the BIS estimated
that between 40-50 percent of the diplomats and officials working in
the Russian embassy and its consulates doubled as security personnel
for one Russian intelligence agency or another. Others allegedly
function as journalists or employees of various Russian firms.
Saar's passport
Estonian intelligence gathers information for CIA and MI6 in
Russia - Russian newspaper
It is interesting that without any particular reason the Moscow-based
daily Izvestia has published an article reviewing activity of
intelligence agencies of Estonia. The paper says Estonians have been
trying to create a secret service network in Russia and the Russian
FSB mared an increased activity of agents of this country. Estonian
agents have been trying to recruit Russian militaries and have been
threatening those who have relatives in Estonia, the daily newspaper
alleges. Izvestia concludes that Estonian intelligence services are
operating not only in their owninterests, and they are serving to
their American and British counterparts. In 2005, the ambassador of
Estonia in Russia even received a note of protest in connection with
the frequent attempts of recruitment of the Russian citizens.
On August 20, a citizen of Estonia, Allan Saar, left Russia after the
FSB showed him a notice on undesirability of his stay in the Russian
territory. The Russian counterspies paid attention to Estonian
businessman Allan Saar following a certain signal from an officer of
one of military divisions, Izvestia expands. Saar who was often
visiting Russia, persuasively tried to make friends with Russian
militaries. After shadowing Saar for a while, the FSB officers soon
got satisfied that he tried to unsuccessfully obtain classified
information from the militaries.
FSB operatives were sent to the hotel where Saar was staying, they
read a notice to him, he familiarized himself with it, signed it and
reportedly admitted that he had worked under orders of the Estonian
Security Police, known also as KaPo. Saar expressed desire to leave
Russia as soon as possible.
The most known agent of the Estonian special services was Russian
border guard Igor Vyalkov. He worked at one of check-points in
Russia's Pskov oblast, visited the local FSB directorate on a regular
basis, knew many of its employees, was aware of situation at the
border. He himself contacted the KaPo and in the beginning transferred
some information on the regional FSB directorate employees to the
Estonian counterintelligence.
Vyalkov used to introduce himself as a security officer who was simply
attached to the border guard service; he even made a false
certificate. The Estonian employers believed him and demanded serious
information. Vyalkov studied in the Academy of the Border Guard
Service and under a pretext of writing of thesis he started to achieve
the admission to departmental periodicals of the FSB. He even in
written form addressed to the leadership of the FSB Pskov directorate
with the request to give him a number those periodicals from previous
years.Vyalkov's shadowing revealed that on a regular basis he
illegally crossed the state border to meet his curator, KaPo officer
Zoya Tint. According to Izvestia, Vyalkov was caught red-handed. The
court sentenced Igor Vyalkova to 10 years of imprisonment.
Estonian KaPo has been trying to recruit the Russians coming to
Estonia to visit friends or relatives. Military doctor Sergei
Baktyukov several times visited an old friend in Tallinn. Once his
introduced him to a person who appeared to be the KaPo head Juri
Pihl. Later he got acquainted also with Pihl's deputy Alus Aldis who
was simply interested in his service. When Baktyukov arrived to
Tallinn next time, he was met by other KaPo officers who in a rigid
form explained that he had already disclosed some classified
information and now he had to work for them. When Baktyukov told the
agents that he did not know any secrets he was suggested to recruit
his own son, a student of one of military schools. Baktyukov left
Estonia the same day and immediately addressed the FSB, Izvestia
writes .
According to the FSB, the analysis of the KaPo activity unequivocally
shows that Estonians do not work only for themselves, they deliver the
major share of information to the US, British and Scandinavian
intelligence.
Russian intelligence agencies do not have doubts that the Estonian
intelligence already for a long time has turned almost to a branch of
the US CIA and British MI6, Izvestia writes. The paper recalls a
certain Valery Oyamae, a former officer of the Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service who worked at the same time for both, the KaPo
and the British MI6. Using his contacts, Oyamae collected and
transferred data about ways of rendering of operating influence to the
Russian politicians, about the Russian agents in British and American
intelligence agencies and establishments, about personnel structure of
the FSB and other classified information. KaPo's Zoya Tint was also
his contact. Oyamae was arrested in 2000 and sentenced to 7 years of
imprisonment, however, he died in prison on 2003.
Parliamentary subcommittee to deal with Bulgaria's SANS proposed by
Prime Minister
According to Prime Minister and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP) Sergei Stanishev, it would be more effective to have a
subcommittee within the framework of the parliamentary Interior
Security and Public Order Committee the deal with the operation of the
State Agency for National Security (SANS). Stanishev made this
statement at a news conference yesterday which followed a BSP
plenum. The matter was discussed at a meeting of the party's Executive
Bureau the previous day, Stanishev said.
According to daily Klassa, Bulgaria's President Georgi Purvanov is
against members of parliament probe into SANS and the Interior
Ministry. Politicians should not interfere in the security structures,
he said in Plovdiv, where he opened the International Technical Fair
Autumn 2008.
Daily Trud quotes President Georgi Purvanov as saying that there is no
conflict at SANS. "I think that what has happened and the subsequent
scandal is much ado about nothing," he noted.
Meanwhile Interior Minister Mihail Mikov is cited by the paper as
saying that the control over the special surveillance means and the
printouts of phone calls is strictly regulated.
Scandal connected with print-outs of Bulgarian parliament members'
phone calls continues
Bulgarian have been keeping commenting the scandal which erupted last
week when some members of parliament told the media that the State
Agency for National Security (SANS) had requested print-outs of their
phone calls.
Members of parliament Iliana Yotova told the daily Trud that the worst
thing would be if a battle between different clans started at the
SANS. Europe will either write its next report on Bulgaria on the
basis of development of this scandal, or will write no reports any
more. "The most terrifying thing is that the agency, which we hoped to
start a real fight against top level corruption, might be called
"political police" only a few months after its establishment," she
added. According to her, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and the
parliament should take urgent measures for overcoming the crisis. If
the goal is to discredit the agency, its authors should be named and
they should bear all consequences, Yotova added.
Daily 24 Chasa carries an interview with Justice Minister Meglena
Tacheva, who said she has assigned to the experts of her ministry
working on a bill amending the Special Surveillance Means Act to
prepare a text providing for a procedure for receiving, using, storing
and destroying such print-outs.
The scandal about the State Agency for National Security (SANS) burst
out because they do not know who would be the next one, Prime Minister
Sergei Stanishev told the parliament, as quoted by 24 Chasa. Stanishev
recalled the successful SANS raids of the recent weeks and concluded
that it was mainly these operations that have caused discomfort among
certain people. They sought "to discredit a good undertaking". "I
would never let SANS be used for conducting surveillance of
journalists," Stanishev also stated adding that the probes in question
were promoted by the leakage of classified information. Every
self-respecting state service would conduct an investigation into such
leakage, he noted. Daily Sega also writes on the issue saying that the
Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office has requested to extend the range
of crimes, for which special surveillance means could be used. The
proposal is to employ such means in the investigation of serious
crimes against the financial, tax and social security systems as
well. The Capital runs an interview with member of parliament Tatyana
Doncheva, who says that "personnel changes are needed at SANS". It was
namely Doncheva that made the scandalous disclosures last week. she
adds, however, that there are no grounds to deny the institution.
The past week has shown clearly that wiretapping people is not only
inefficient: it is done with no
serious safeguards against abuses, 24 Chasa says. According to the
article, the only safeguard could be a parliamentary committee to
check every 3, 6 or 12 months, how many phones have been wiretapped,
how many printouts have been requested for peoples' phone calls and
whether these have been meticulously reported in documents. It would
be still better for the Interior Ministry to rely more on real agents
and less on special surveillance means, the analysis reads.
In an interview to 24 Chasa, IMRO leader Krassimir Karakachanov says
it would be even OK for SANS to arrest members of parliament but only
if this is done in keeping with the law. He said it makes sense to
think that all the publicity around SANS in the recent days is more or
less meant to divert attention from some of its operations. He is
adamant that the special services should be allowed to do their job,
even if it means wiretapping and arresting members of parliament - as
long as it is lawfull. "When SANS was being created, I proposed that a
parliamentary committee be set up under the leadership of the
opposition to control the special services. This would be the only
guarantee that they are not used for political purposes," Karakachanov
says. Daily Trud publishes an article by former Interior Ministry
chief secretary Todor Boyadjiev. In his view there is no reason to
compare SANS with the political police of the totalitarian
societies. In his view it is quite natural to order printouts of calls
of politicians, who maintain contacts with persons, being targets to
surveillance and prosecutor orders. According to Boyadjiev, the only
weakness relates to the fact that the presidential institution and the
NGOs remained isolated upon the establishment of SANS. The Dnevnik
refers to parliamentary sources as saying that the scandal has been
prompted by internal bickering within SANS. This paper quotes Yonko
Grozdev of the Centre for Liberal Strategies as saying that the Agency
was set up "because of the control over the services rather than to
fight corruption". According to Grozdev, it was a mistake to set up
the Agency based on the existing intelligence services without vesting
it with investigative powers.
Journalists reportedly shadowed by Bulgaria's State Agency for
National Security
The Bulgarian daily 24 Chasa gives prominence to a new scandal that
has burst out in the public spectrum: 50 journalists, editors-in-chief
and owners of media were covered by a July surveillance of the State
Agency for National Security (SANS), code-named, Gallery. The
surveillance was reportedly prompted by the leakage of
information. Initially, its object was the Opasnite Novini [Dangerous
News] website and it, eventually, extended to tabloids, large TVs and
serious papers.
Daily Monitor writes about the issue citing Eliana Masseva, member of
parliament of Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB). In this way SANS
was allegedly trying to establish control over the whole media network
in the country. SANS is assuming the role of political police, Masseva
says in an interview for the Monitor. In her view the surveillance
against the media was prompted by the negative paper stories against
the Government and the Prime Minister.
"I would never let SANS be used for conducting surveillance of
journalists," Stanishev also stated adding that the probes in question
were promoted by the leakage of classified information. Every
self-respecting state service would conduct an investigation into such
leakage, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev noted, according to 24 Chasa.
Trud frontpages a remark by the chief of the State Agency for National
Security (SANS), Petko Sertov, who said that he would resign if any
journalist working for media organizations which are affiliated with
the Union of Publishers in Bulgaria and the Union of the Bulgarian
National Electronic Media, has been eavesdropped or put under
surveillance. Sertov was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of the
two organizations. The chiefs of leading Bulgarian media organizations
requested an emergency meeting with the SANS head over allegations
that SANS has wiretapped journalists of all media as part of an
operation code-named Gallery. Sertov is quoted saying that such an
operation does exist but it did not include eavesdropping journalists
over their work.
A commentary in daily Sega says that when the wiretapping of
journalists is made public, the message is for the said journalists'
sources to keep their mouths shut. "The brunt of the campaign is now
on the sources in order to spare the public information which is
important for it but sensitive for the government. In this line of
reasoning, the silence of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and the
downplaying of the issue by President Georgi Purvanov come as a
surprise. Their support for SANS in this situation is shortsightedness
at best."
The Zemya reports that Interior Minister Mihail Mikov and SANS' chief
Sertov did not show up in the parliament and left it to member of
parliament Kassim Dal to read out their report on the case of the
assaulted journalists Ognyan Stefanov. The members of parliament of
the opposition had expected Mikov and Sertov to come to Parliament in
person to answer their questions, and protested against the written
report saying that it offered no significant information.
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