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Lugovoy calls British request to send investigators to Russia a provocation
FSB will be going track every car in Russia - Patrushev
Russia’s FSB initiates criminal case against ex-head of Krasnoyarsk scientific and research institute
Russia launches new spy satellite from Plesetsk cosmodrome
SBU asks Russia to give out criminals who committed act of vandalism over national symbols of Ukraine
Channel of contraband of meat products eliminated by Ukraine’s Security Service
Constitution Protection Bureau of Latvia "did not wiretapped" lawyer’s office
Romanian Orthodox Church upset with CNSAS after revelations of clergymen collaboration
Two communist-era secret services collaborators exposed in Bulgaria’s electoral committee
Lugovoy calls British request to send investigators to Russia a provocation
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Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy, who is considered by the British prosecutor's office as the main suspect in the murder of former Russian state security agency officer Alexander Litvinenko, says "one more provocation" stands behind the British authorities' new request to be allowed to send Scotland Yard officials to Moscow to investigate the Litvinenko case, news agency Interfax reports today. "Reports were circulated a few days ago claiming that the UK had again asked the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to allow [British experts] to come to Russia to investigate the Litvinenko case," Lugovoy told the press in Vladivostok.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has made it clear that it wants to cooperate with the British authorities, but it would first like to receive replies to its inquiries sent ten months ago, news agency cited Lugovoy, who runs a private security service and maintains that he is innocent. Lugovoy also repeated that self-exiled Russian businessman Boris Berevovsky was involved in the crime, as well as in the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. He has refused to travel to London, claiming that “powerful forces in England” are behind the case against him, The Times marks. Lugovoy alleged that British authorities would “do all they can to withhold information concerning Litvinenko’s murder”, as AIA reported yesterday. British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton has denied that a group of British investigators is going to visit Moscow in the framework of this case.
Russia launches new spy satellite from Plesetsk cosmodrome
Russia yesterday launched a spy satellite to replenish its space-based military satellite cluster, news agency PTI reported.
A 'Kosmos' series military satellite was launched from the country's northern Plesetsk cosmodrome at 10:09 IST yesterday with the help of Molnia-M space launch vehicle (SLV), local media reported quoting Space Forces press service.
The four-stage medium-range Molnia-M SLV has a lift-off weight capacity of 305 metric tons and is used for launching spacecraft of up to two metric tonnes into high-elliptical orbits typical for spy satellites, PTI adds.
Russia’s FSB initiates criminal case against ex-head of Krasnoyarsk scientific and research institute
A criminal case has been initiated by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) against Nikolai Vasilenko, former director of state-owned Krasnoyarsk Scientific and Research Institute of Management Systems of Wave Processes and Technologies, over embezzlement (Clause 160.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), online site Newslab.ru reports.
The basis for the initiation of the case was registered facts of illegal and free acquisition of federal movables, worth $275,000, to a limited liability company, the only founder of which was Vasilenko himself, Newslab.ru says.
The online site exoands that investigation is currently being carried out; at present Vasilenko remains in custody in Tsentralny District Court of Krasnoyarsk. He faces from 5 to 10 years' imprisonment, Newslab.ru adds.
According to Krasnoyarsk Avtoradio, the FSB accuses Vasilenko of waste and assignment of property. Inspectors consider, that Vasilenko, being the head of a scientific research institute, has sold an institute’s tourism facility in Khakassia. Besides, the buyer of the compound appeared to be a private enterprise belonging to Vasilenko. According to FSB investigators, Vasilenko made orders and spent institute’s money for far-fetched needs, and much money again was received by the private firm, founded by Vasilenko himself.
FSB will be going track every car in Russia - Patrushev
Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia is going to track every car in the territory of the Russian Federation, RadioFOREX.ru reports.
In such a way the National Antiterrorism committee (NAK) of the Russian Federation is going to create the monitoring system on movement of vehicles in the territory of Russia. This measure will become one of important elements of a complex of preventive measures of counteraction to terrorism, Director of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev has declared. According to a source in the Russian Motor Licensing and Inspection Department of Russia, organization of such tracking will be conducted by means of mobile system Potok. According to this system, a radar established on the car of car inspection employees, reads out number of the car, the system is established for 200-300 meters from the post, and if number sign of the passing car coincides with the number of the violater fixed in the data base, inspectors receive a signal and inform the post.
Patrushev's announcement has upset the president of board of protection of motorists rights Viktor Travin. RadioFOREX.ru says he is extremely dissatisfied, as in his opinion, such control would put the strongest psychological pressure upon all drivers. «There will be no freedom of movement anymore,» – commeneted Travin.
SBU asks Russia to give out criminals who committed act of vandalism over national symbols of Ukraine
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has addressed the Federal Security Service (FSB)
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of Russia with a request to promote delivery of organizers and executors of the act of vandalism over Ukrainian national symbols on Hoverla mountain in Ivano-Frankivsk region, daily Ukrayinska pravda reports, referring to Marina Ostapenko, the SBU spokeswoman. As she said, yesterday, employees of the SBU department have interrogated 71 persons in Ivano-Frankovsk region for identification of the criminals. Thus three suspects have been revealed, Ostapenko noted.
Commenting the information that some suspects have been declared persona non grata in Ukraine, Ostapenko reminded that in due time prohibition of activity of leaders of the so-called International Eurasian movement and the Eurasian union of youth ( Yevroaziyska Spilka Molodi, ESM), was stopped for three months.
Now the SBU has cancelled stay of the interdiction, so Alexander Dugin and Pavel Zarifulin have become persona non grata in Ukraine automatically, Ukrayinska pravda writes.
AIA reported yesterday that the Euroasian Union of Youth had taken responsibility for ostensibly destruction of the state symbols of Ukraine on Hoverla mountain in Carpathians and had promulgated appropriating photos on the site.
According to an earlier SBU report, the crime was committed by three young men, members of the ESM. The SBU reported that the criminals had come to Ukraine on October 12 and firstly visited Sumy and Kiev. Then they arrived to the foot of Hoverla mountain and climbed up the hill where they imitated the cutoff of some details of the construction in the form of small Ukraine’s national emblem and draw the ESM emblem on the memorial to the Ukrainian Constitution. The SBU reports that currently the national symbols and memorial to the Ukrainian Constitution on Hoverla mountain are renewed.
Channel of contraband of meat products eliminated by Ukraine’s Security Service
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has blocked the channel of illicit transfer in the territory of Ukraine of meat products made in the USA, Brazil and Argentina in the amount of more than 100 million Ukrainian Grivna, as well as has revealed one of shadow mechanisms of import processing meat products, news agency Interfax-Ukraine reports.
According to the SBU operatives, from the beginning of the year, through seaports of Odessa and Mariupol tens thousand tons of raw meat material were supplied, addressed to one of the Ukrainian enterprises. By granting to customs bodies of declaration, the malefactors brought obviously false information with an aim of significant reduction of the amount of obligatory payments to the state budget.
Investigatory directorate of the SBU has initiated a criminal case on the fact, Interfax-Ukraine adds.
Constitution Protection Bureau of Latvia "did not wiretapped" lawyer’s office
Janis Kazocins, Director of the Constitution Protection Bureau of the Republic of
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Latvia (SAB) has announced that could not listen to the office of the influential lawyer Andris Grutups as in the specified period this intelligence agency did not possess the equipment indispensable for similar operations, online paper Delfi reports. Delfi refers to Kazocins’ statement before the Commission on investigation of abuses in the country’s judicial system.
Kazocins has also noted that speech apparently goes about eavesdropping of the city telephone exchange phones that is simple to carry out, having in hand an analogue telephone system. The SAB chief has informed the parliament members that, according to his data, private persons in Latvia do not possess equipment, allowing to listen to mobile phone conversations. Exception is made with arrangements for the audiocontrol of facilities that can be bought on the Internet for 10 Lats, he added.
Answering a question why the transcripts of the lawyer’s phone conversations have been translated into Russian, Kazocins assumed that those were requirements of "a customer", or it is just a way to confuse investigation.
Delfi marks that illegal eavesdropping of the office of Grutups was conducted between 1998 and 2000. Constitution Protection Bureau of the Republic of Latvia is one of the three state security establishments in Latvia. The principal tasks of the Bureau include intelligence, counterintelligence, protection of the Secret of State as well as protection of classified information of the European Union and NATO. The SAB is collecting information and forwarding it to the executive officials for making decisions best serving the interests of the State. The Bureau does not engage in the investigation of crimes.
Romanian Orthodox Church upset with CNSAS after revelations of clergymen collaboration
The new leaders of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR) is at quarrel with CNSAS, the body enabled to research the Securitate archives, after several high-ranked priests were unveiled as collaborators. They claim that the BOR History Commission should be the only one entitled to discuss the possible collaboration of priests with the Communist political police, Securitate, daily Gandul writes.
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church denied yesterday the activity of the National Council for Research on the Communist Secret Service Archive (CNSAS), claiming that, given the present structure of the institution, it could not proceed to unbiased an objective evaluations of the Orthodox clergy's activity under the Communist regime, daily Ziua writes today. Moreover, the Holy Synod is going to address the Romanian Senate against the CNSAS, the paper says. According to the Romanian Orthodox Church, the verdicts of political police on some of the leaders of the Church are considered “inaccurate” by the Saint Synod, which accuses the CNSAS of trying to manipulate the public and to shatter the Church.
The BOR considers the CNSAS verdicts on the clergy who collaborated with the Securitate (Communist Secret Service in Romania) look like „moral assassinations”, part of the campaign meant to discredit the Church and diminish its role in society. This is why a committee of historians representing the BOR is going to continue research on the Communist regime, in terms of their own criteria for analysis.
As for the CNSAS members, yesterday they gave different replies to the announcement by the church. Mircea Dinescu didn't seem concerned about the Holy Synod's accusations against the CNSAS. But Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu said he was disappointed to see the Church blame the CNSAS without making a difference between the CNSAS members. CNSAS member Florin Chiritescu commented it was normal for the Church to be discontented, because some decisions were reached depending on interests at stake, but not on grounds of documents and data available in the CNSAS.
Two communist-era secret services collaborators exposed in Bulgaria’s electoral committee
Five days before Bulgarians head to vote in local elections, the findings of the File's Committe, or special panel, investigating the country's communist-era police files widened to include two members of the central electoral body.
Two of the members of the Central Election Committee (CEC) of Bulgaria collaborated with the communist-era secret services, the commission for declassification of the secret services archives said yesterday, publishing their names on its web site, news agencies are reporting from Sofia.
The two are Roumen Elenski and Tsvetozariya Iosifova-Kuteva, mediapool.bg said. Elenski was on the staff of the communist security services. In 1982, he become an intelligence agent and in 1985 was sent to the KGB school in the USSR. In 1989, he became a senior intelligence agent, online agency notes.
Iosifova-Kuteva was a secret collaborator and held agent quarters. Kuteva, wife of Olimpi Kutev, parliamnet member on the ticket of the centrist party of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg and former district governor of Sofia, reportedly worked for the security services until 1990. National Movement for Stability and Progress nominated Iosifova-Kuteva for the CEC in 2003, while Elenski was nominated by Bulgarian Socialist Party in 2005, The Sofia Echo expands.
Following the latest revelations the list of state security collaborators is slowly swelling, Sofia News Agency concludes. At the beginning of September a special panel released the names of 138 agents and collaborators to the secret services, who have been members of Bulgaria's parliaments since the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. Also on the list were the names of president Georgi Parvanov and 19 current members of parliament. The files of the former Committee for State Security are a thorny issue in Bulgaria, especially when it comes to the past of high-ranking officials.
On October 24 2007, the archives declassification committee will announce whether any of the mayor candidates collaborated to the secret services, according to mediapool.bg.
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