MPs of the Verkhovna Rada decided to summon the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to a report against the background of Bihus.Infoʼs investigation into the wiretapping of journalists by the special service.
The MP from "Voice" Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported this. 159 MPs voted pro.
Before that, the head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraineʼs Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchyshyn called on the parliament to summon the heads of SBU, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, and the National Police for a report to discuss the state of the investigation into attacks on journalists.
What preceded
On January 16, a video appeared on the Internet, where employees of the Bihus.Info investigation project are allegedly using grugs. The video was shot on a camera placed in a rented house where the employees had a corporate party. The video also included recordings of phone conversations of project workers. Journalists believe that they have been followed for at least several months.
The head of the project Denys Bigus, in a video address to the audience, announced the dismissal of the operators caught on video. Later, he added that journalists had been following his project for almost a year. SBU is investigating the illegal wiretapping of Bihus.Info employees. Also, the lawyers of the Bihus.Info editorial office appealed to the law enforcement officers with statements under several articles — in particular, regarding violation of privacy and obstruction of journalistsʼ activities.
In the investigation, which came out on February 5, the investigators said that the journalists were monitored by the State Security Department of the Security Service of Ukraine — more than 30 people participated in the operation, who were identified thanks to the video from the cameras of the hotel where the editorial office was located on December 27 of last year. In a telephone conversation with Bihus.Info, the dismissed head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood (DPNS) Roman Semenchenko did not deny the involvement of DPNS in this operation. Journalists of Bihus.Info stated that the monitoring of them continued in recent days.
The Security Service of Ukraine, after the publication of Bihus.Infoʼs investigation into the surveillance of journalists, stated that among the clients of the dealers, through whom drugs were supplied to other people, were some employees of Bihus.Info. In particular, the operator, who appeared in the criminal proceedings on the illegal production and storage of drugs.