REVIEW TOPICS:
Polish government did not spy on opposition and press, officials say
Past of Bulgarian members of parliament in communist secret services revealed
Finnish police chiefs clear Security Police over Stasi files
Ukraine’s Security Service hunting commercial espionage companies
Russian counterintelligence veteran’s book published
Russian government wants to develop manufacture of domestic cryptographic equipment 
Thirteen people with connection to ex-security chief convicted for plotting coup in Georgia

Polish government did not spy on opposition and press, officials say
Poland's former Interior and Administration Minister Janusz Kaczmarek waited for over five hours but was unable to speak in front of the Parliament's Committee on Special Services before the hearing was postponed, daily Dziennik reports. Meanwhile, information revealed earlier by Kaczmarek was denied by the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS). Contrary to Kaczmarek's earlier testimony, PiS did not

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abuse power and spy on media and opposition politicians, PiS's leadership insists.
At a special press conference at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro denied accusations fielded by former Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek that leading opposition politicians, media figures and journalists had been put under surveillance by intelligence services, Polish Radio reported.
Minister Ziobro said that he had not been behind or inspired any such actions. He also said that law enforcement agencies had been aware for some time that the dismissed Interior Minister was preparing a provocation which would hinder police and prosecutors working on a leak about an anti-corruption probe at the Agricultural Ministry. He also said that Janusz Kaczmarek broke the law if he failed to reveal the information he had had on inconsistencies in law enforcement agencies.
At the same press conference, head of President Lech Kaczynski’s office, Maciej Lopinski denied that the President had asked security services to check on operations against his family. Meanwhile government spokesman Jan Dziedziczak said it was not true that Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski had ordered putting former President Lech Walesa or his family members under surveillance. Secret services coordinator Zbigniew Wassermann said that the allegations that intelligence services were being used by one political party were being used for election purposes, Polish radio marked. Head of the Central Anti-Corruption bureau Mariusz Kaminski simply said that the former Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek was “talking rubbish”, according to the radio. In his turn, head of the Internal Security Agency Bogdan Swieczkowski said that all of the Agency’s operations were legal.
Meanwhile the special parliamentary commission for security services decided it will resume its hearings of former Interior Minister Kaczmarek. Earlier the commission's session was suspended by Speaker of Parliament Ludwik Dorn who met with commission members to check if the information supplied by the former minister was classified. This met with strong criticism from some representatives of the opposition, who called it a "coup", Polish Radio adds.

Past of Bulgarian members of parliament in communist secret services revealed
Every seventh member of the Bulgarian Parliament has been a former agent of the communist secret services, sources from the Secret Files Committee quoted by Bulgarian daily Standart said. The names of a total of 1,400 people who were elected to Parliament in the last 17 years are to be checked out by the committee. At least 200 of them are known to have collaborated with the former secret services, preliminary data shows. The final list of the agents will be aired on August 29 or 30, Standart writes, referring to the committee.

Finnish police chiefs clear Security Police over Stasi files
Ministry of Interior of Finland said in a statement today that the supreme police command's legality review of the Security Police (SUPO) had shown that the unit had not proceeded unlawfully when handling the so-called Stasi material, news agency STT reports.
The legality review, which the supreme police command carries out periodically throughout the police, focused this time on the way SUPO acquired, handled and used material thought to contain the names of Finns viewed as informants by the foreign intelligence arm of communist East Germany's state security ministry, known as the Stasi.

Ukraine’s Security Service hunting commercial espionage companies
Acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Valentin Nalyvaychenko announced that Ukrainian security service agents have revealed a company that was carrying out commercial espionage activity, online paper 24.ua reports. According to the SBU, the criminal group was composed of former employees of the Ministry of Interior, who had been engaged in wiretapping, visual observation, gathering of compromising material on officials and businessmen.
Two analogous spying companies were exposed December last year and in May. Hence it follows that there is a vast market of espionage services in Ukraine, 24.ua concludes.
The price of espionage equipment of every kind is relatively low because of cheapness of source materials and basic price increase relates to the "delicacy" of the question. According to experts, to organize particular interception of phone conversations costs about $300-500, including installation. Penal responsibility is provided for the secret shadowing in the Ukrainian legislation, 24.ua adds.

Russian counterintelligence veteran’s book published
Retired Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Ved, veteran of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia Khabarovsk territory directorate, has published a collection of memories, devoted to the 90th anniversary of the VChK-KGB-FSB, regional news agency PrimaMedia reports.
The book titled Service R narrates about many little-known episodes of work of the Russia’s Far East security service officers and also about their mutual relations, leisure time and family life.
The main value of the book is its documentation, according to PrimaMedia: the author was a participant of all described events (for example, he maintained direct communication with the intelligence group headed by Richard Sorge up to its last radio transmission).
”My memoirs are telling about people who using primitive radio equipment and frequently risking their lives, solved the most complicated tasks in the struggle against foreign inteligence services,” – the agency cites Ivan Ved. He was born in 1920 in Ukraine. Since 1937 served in different radiocounterspionage divisions of the USSR state security agencies. In 1945 participated in war with Japan within an operatively-search group. In 1952 he carried out special tasks in the territory of North Korea. Now the retired Lieutenant-Colonel is a pensioner and lives in Khabarovsk.

Russian government wants to develop manufacture of domestic cryptographic equipment
The Government of the Russian Federation has charged the interested departments with the task to consider the issue of development of manufacture of the domestic cryptographic equipment, news agency Prime-TASS reports. Referring to the press service of the government the agency marks that a corresponding decision was accepted on the results of yesterday's session of the government.
According to the given assignment, Ministry of Industry and Energy, Ministry of Education and Science, Federal Security Service/FSB/and the Federal Protection Service/FSO/ should consider the question on measures on progress of development of competitive cryptographic equipment raised at the session, Prime-TASS says. The mentioned ministries and agencies are to report to the government of the Russian Federation on the results of their consideration till December 1, 2007. The question on expansion of manufacture of domestic means of communication and replacement of foreign-made equipment by domestic production was raised at yesterday's session by the head of the government Mikhail Fradkov.

Thirteen people with connection to ex-security chief convicted for plotting coup in Georgia

	Igor Giorgadze

A court in Georgia has convicted 13 people for plotting a coup against the government; they were sentenced from four to eight years in prison, Russia Today TV reports. All of the accused, who were arrested in September of last year, are supporters of the opposition group - the Georgian Party of Justice. During the trial - which was held behind closed doors - twelve of the accused pleaded not guilty.
The convicted come from across the political spectrum of Georgia's opposition - from Communists to Monarchists, however, all share a connection to the ex-chief of the Georgian national Security Service, Igor Giorgadze, who fled the country in the mid-1990s after being accused of an attempted assassination of the then Georgia’s President Eduard Shevarnadze in 1995.
Despite being in exile, Giorgadze launched an opposition party, which staged loud protests against Mikhail Saakashvili, who became President in 2003; Giorgadze has denied that he was behind the alleged plot.
The convicted were arrested on September 6, 2006 and charged with planning a provocation, which would then lead to a violent suppression by the authorities, with the conspirators taking advantage of the ensuing instability. Apart from one, all of the Giorgadze supporters say the case is political, and the evidence was manipulated by the secret police, according to Russia Today TV.

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