BRATISLAVA, November 21, (WEBNOVINY) — Defense Minister Lubomir Galko (SaS) on Monday lodged a criminal complained against an unknown offender over illegal use of personal data and exposing confidential facts. “Everything will now be in the hands of investigation authorities whom I trust absolutely,” the minister said following the meeting with the prime minister. Journalists were not able to ask questions after Galko provided his statement.
The minister noted that a few days ago, his department prepared a criminal motion over suspected fraud related to the conclusion of the contract for the mobile communication system MOKYS, which would cost Slovakia billions of Slovak crowns. Only a few days later, newspapers desks received an anonymous tip for a story covering the purchase of military trucks and later, the purchase of three military ambulances. “Two periodicals today published stories about alleged illegal wiretapping of journalists by the Military Counterintelligence Service,” Galko announced. He noted that the Military Counterintelligence Service does not carry out wiretapping. Every case of wiretapping needs the approval of a judge and is thus legally carried out by police. “This is crucial for me,” Galko noted, and said that he would not accept political games of those that do not abide by the law. He will never cover any violations of laws. Galko asked the Parliamentary Committee Overseeing the Activities of the Military Counterintelligence Service to investigate the matter.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova demands a thorough inquiry of suspicions related to the alleged wiretapping of journalists. The head of the Slovak government asked Defense Minister Lubomir Galko at their unscheduled meeting on Monday to present detailed information about the alleged use of intelligence tools to bug reporters to the committee responsible for coordination of activities of intelligence services of the Security Council of the Slovak Republic and the Security Council itself slated to meet on November 22. At the same time, she told the chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee Overseeing the Activities of the Military Counterintelligence Service to convene a session of the committee to investigate the information disseminated in the media. Radicova further addressed the Office to Fight Corruption that should verify whether the alleged activities violated rights and legally protected interests of the involved persons and whether this conduct is to be considered criminal, the press department of the Cabinet Offices stated.
The Monday issues of NOVY CAS and PRAVDA cover the alleged wiretapping of several reporters over the past month. Behind these alleged activities stood the Military Counterintelligence Service, under the jurisdiction of the Defense Ministry. NOVY CAS writes that among the bugged persons were Director of the TA3 news channel Michal Gucik and reporters of PRAVDA.
Chairman of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers Igor Cibula believes that the director of the Military Counterintelligence Service and his boss, the defense minister, should be held responsible for the scandal. He does not think that the wiretapping could have taken place without a judge approval. “Another thing is that the judge that issued the wiretap approval did not have to know the real reason behind the requested approval,” Cibula remarked. He emphasized that the respective judge is not liable for the scandal. Cibula assumes that the information leak could be the result of personnel reshuffle at the Military Counterintelligence Service and the discontent it triggered among intelligence officers. He added that journalists can be bugged as other persons of the so-called intelligence interest for many reasons. Cibula admitted that some politicians may be tempted to collect information on connections between journalists and interest groups, including political parties.
SITA