The head of the Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk, expressed his indignation regarding the actions of individual employees of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood in connection with the surveillance of journalists of the Bihus.Info project. He stated that such actions are "unacceptable" and caused "a series of personnel decisions."
According to Malyuk, the SBU made a significant contribution to the protection of Ukraine both on the front and in the rear of Russia by exposing Russian intelligence networks. However, indignation is caused by the actions of employees who followed Bihus.Info journalists and distributed video materials.
The Security Service stated that measures to combat organized drug crime led to information about the involvement of one of the newsroom's operators in the distribution of narcotic substances. It was also discovered that Bihus.Info employees became clients of dealers through whom narcotic substances were supplied to other citizens.
In this regard, the SBU opened criminal proceedings in accordance with Article 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of obtaining information). Further actions on this matter have not yet been specified.
Earlier on February 6, People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced that the Verkhovna Rada supported his proposal to summon the head of the SBU for a report on the surveillance of Bihus.Info journalists. 159 parliamentarians voted for the decision.
The head of the Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, spoke in the Council with a proposal to conduct an internal investigation with the suspension of the alleged participants from work during the investigation.
On February 5, Bihus.Info reported that its journalists had identified those who installed hidden cameras in hotel rooms to monitor the editorial staff. The cameras filmed the rest of the team in a hotel complex in the Kyiv region at the end of December 2023. According to the journalistic investigation, these were employees of the Security Service of Ukraine.
According to the SBU statement, "combating organized drug crime is one of the areas of activity" of this special service, and the Bihus.Info operator was "among the clients of dealers through whom narcotics were supplied to other citizens." At the same time, the SBU opened criminal proceedings in accordance with Article 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of obtaining information).
