Bihus.Info suspects that curators of surveillance of journalists wanted to reward them. SSU says no orders were given. VIDEO
The investigative journalism project Bihus.Info sent a request to the SBU to award the Order of Danylo Halytskyi to Roman Semenchenko, head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood, who was later fired after the surveillance of journalists was made public, and to Igor Kravchenko, an SBU officer involved in the surveillance. The SSU denied that they had received such an order.
This is stated in a story by Bihus Info, Censor.NET reports.
As noted in the story, according to colleagues, in January, after the surveillance operation against Bihus.Info employees, but before the information about this operation became public, the then head of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood, Roman Semenchenko, and an SSU officer, Ihor Kravchenko, were nominated for the Order of Danylo Halytskyi.
The story said that Bihus.Info had submitted a request for this information, but had no reason to doubt its veracity.
The Order of Danylo Halytskyi is awarded by presidential decree for "significant personal contribution to the development of Ukraine, conscientious and impeccable service to the Ukrainian people".
Bihus.Info also reports that after the publication of an investigation into the SSU's involvement in surveillance of journalists, the special service banned employees from using branded clothing, expensive watches, and luxury cars. According to the project, the relevant newsletter appeared in the SBU's internal chats and reached journalists.
"Attention managers! I ask you to exclude the use of branded clothing, expensive watches, luxury cars, etc. by operational personnel during official activities (during working hours). Only tactical clothing! The execution of the instruction is the personal responsibility of the heads of departments... Tell the personnel not to wear branded clothing, drive expensive cars, etc. (including and especially on weekends), as the Bigus will be actively working. No exceptions! Tactical uniforms, etc.," the draft quotes a message from the special service's internal chats.
The Bihus.Info story also states that after the publication of the investigation, "journalists from different editorial offices began to actively report on social media that they had already met Igor (Kravchenko - ed.)".
"Some because he dragged them to a meeting, some because he came to their editorial office. They also mentioned the fact that, according to Igor, he was instructed to deal with all journalists," the investigators said.
After the news was published , the SSU press service denied that Semenchenko and Kravchenko had received the award.
"We would like to inform you that the former head of the SSU's DPNS, Roman Semenchenko, and Ihor Kravchenko do not have the state award 'Order of Danylo Halytskyi'," the SBU said.
Surveillance of Bihus.info journalists
On 16 January, a video was posted online showing Bihus.Info employees allegedly taking drugs at a New Year's corporate party. The founder of the project, Denys Bihus, noted that the video showed part of the team, namely the cameramen. According to him, the journalists did not use drugs.
"The team is aware of the gravity of the situation. Of course, the wiretapping and surveillance were illegal, and the goals of those who recorded are clear. However, this is no excuse for what we saw on the video - namely, the use of illegal substances by several of our colleagues," the team said.
Later, Bihus said that Bihus.Info team members had been under surveillance for about a year. And the New Year's corporate party was part of an operation by security forces.
The SSU initiated proceedings over the illegal wiretapping and filming. It also seized discs with camera recordings.
Recently, Bihus.Info journalists asked for help in identifying the persons allegedly involved in the surveillance of the investigative team. It was also reported that Bihus.Info had identified the SSU officers who had been illegally spying on the journalists: they were from the Department for the Protection of National Statehood.
Subsequently, the Rada summoned Malyuk, the head of the SSU, to report.
It became known that the pre-trial investigation in the case of surveillance of Bihus.info would be conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation. After that, another case of surveillance of Bihus.info employees was transferred to the SBI.
