REVIEW TOPICS
President Macedonia dismissed Intelligence Agency's director, successor appointed
New secure location for presidential offices should be found - Serbia's security services
Ratko Mladic was freely moving around Belgrade, General's former security chief claims
UN War Crimes Tribunal restarts trial of former Serbian intelligence heads
President Yushchenko of Ukraine held consultative meeting on black market
Imprisoned US anti-mob lawyer goes on hunger strike in Belarus
Uzbekistan's border security agents involved in new "incident" amid growing tensions between neighbours
Australians want to get names of Soviet KGB and GRU Cold War moles
President of Macedonia dismissed Intelligence Agency's director, successor appointed
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| Viktor Dimovski |
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The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Ghorge Ivanov, dismissed Viktor Dimovski from the post of Director of the Intelligence Agency (Agenciata na razuznavanie, AR). Aleksandar
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Aleksandar Botsinov |
Botsinov has been appointed as the new head of the agency, news agency MIA reportrs, referring to the statement of president's Cabinet.
Dimovski was the head of ther agency since September 2007. He was named by the then President Branko Tsrvenkovski to replace the previous intelligence service's director Kire Naumov who resigned from the post. after one year in office.
The new Director of the Intelligence Agency Aleksandar Botsinov has worked at the Security and Counterintelligence Directorate. He is a son of the late former head of the General Staff of Macedonian Army (1993-96) and one-time Admiral of the Yugoslavia's Navy, Colonel-General Dragolyub Botsinov, MIA adds.
Given that the Head of State is responsible for appointment of the agency's director, the replacement was expected, nonetheless, the procedure was rather hastened following Dimovski's activities in the opposition SDSM, daily Vest notes. According to the Constitution, President is direct superior of the Intelligence Agency. Macedonia’s other security agencies, the DBK and Military Intelligence, are controlled by the interior and defense ministries respectively.
Last Sunday, Viktor Dimovski was given a high-ranking position of the Central Council of the SDSM. The President's cabinet described this move as "surprising and disappointing," the paper marks.
New secure location for presidential offices should be found - Serbia's security services
Serbia's security services requested at a session of the Council for National Security that Serbian government find a new more secure location for the offices of the State President in Belgrade, daily Blic reports today.
According to the daily, upon completing a risk evaluation, the Serbian National Security Services have been warning that country's President Boris Tadic is at risk due to the location of the president's office, which is surrounded by busy streets, making security difficult to manage. Security service officials said they could not guarantee adequate protection for the president and his personnel.
Among other stepped-up security measures, snipers have been put in place around the location until a solution can be found and police units have raised the level of security in and around the Presidency Building, according to Blic. Security services have also recommended the purchase of an armored, explosive-resistant vehicle for the president and other at-risk officials and visiting dignitaries. Tadic has made no official response to the report, the daily adds.
An incident on May 21 highlighted the need for a revamping of security procedures concerning
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| Boris Tadic protected by snipers: Blic |
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the presidential offices building. After a five-hour standoff after entering the Serbian presidency building armed with two hand grenades the malefactor was disarmed and arrested. A member of parliament's security committee, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Delic, said then that the incident was a warning and a wake-up call for better security measures for the top officials.
The security of the President of Serbia is provided by members of the elite units of Army of Serbia and the police and other authorities in accordance with the requirements and regulations issued by the Government, as it is stated in the Law on the President of the Republic. The personal protection of the President of the Republic is maintained by members of the special-task military police battalion, Cobra, Blic writes.
The Government of Serbia has adopted a regulation this spring on security protection that is performed by the Interior Ministry, BIA security service, security agencies and military police.
The Council for National Security also suggested that the Ministry of Justice should launch initiative for change of regulations so that death treats are sanctioned at the moment they are made, Blic adds.
Ratko Mladic was freely moving around Belgrade, General's former security chief claims
Branislav Puhalo, the former chief of security of the current Hague war crimes tribunal fugitive General Ratko Mladic, said today before the District Court in Belgrade that the Serb top leadership was informed that Mladic by the end of March 2002 lived in Belgrade and that his associates used military facilities, according to daily Blic.
"Everything was done legally. We had a few vehicles, boxes full of ammunition, as we went to Sinaj. In 2001, Mladic freely moved around Belgrade, we went to football games, to the Ministry of Interior, to restaurants," Blic cites Puhalo speaking at the trial for helping in Mladic's hiding.
Pukalo pointed out that the state bodies could then easily arrest Mladic if they wanted to and
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Branislav Puhalo |
that about 50 people in charge of Mladic's protection slept in the barracks in Topcider and that state and military leadership had been informed about it. Puhalo said in 1997, following the arrival of Mladic in Serbia, the then President Slobodan Milosevic and the Chief of General Staff Momcilo Perisic established the 30th personnel centre of the Yugoslav Army, which was responsible for protection of Mladic who was located in a house in the Banovo hill village of Belgrade suburbs.
Defendants' lawyer Svetozar Vujacic asked Puhalo whether the then President Vojislav Kostunica and Defense Minister Boris Tadic were informed about providing security to Mladic and the witness replied that they definitely had to know that by March 31, 2002, when the 30th personnel centre was disbanded. "They all knew about that, Milosevic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic ..."
Boris Tadic was chosen as the Minister of Defense in March 2003, after the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Blic notes. Puhalo said that he and his men were responsible for saving Mladic personally, but if they were given an order to arrest Mladic they would have done it. "We protected Mladic from criminals and bounty hunters, and not from the state," marked Puhalo.
UN War Crimes Tribunal restarts trial of former Serbian intelligence heads
The United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague has restarted the trial today of two former Serbian intelligence chiefs with the prosecution's opening statement, after the trial was suspended last year, news agencies are reporting. Jovica Stanisic, 58, former head of the secret service of Yugoslavia, and his key aide and co-accused Franko Simatovic, 59, a commander of elite Serb forces, are accused of arming, training and financing secret units of Serbian state security which committed atrocities against non-Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia between 1991 and 1995. Stanisic, the former state security service chief, and his deputy Simatovic; are accused of organizing, arming and.
The trial was interrupted last year due to Stanisic's ill health. The presentation of evidence would follow from June 29, according to AFP.
According to an earlier decision, the court will convene only twice a week because of Stanisic's health, while the defendant will be under constant medical observation. The trial chamber plans to conduct the trial in three daily sessions, each lasting 75 minutes, with breaks of 30 minutes in between, radio B92 reports.
President Yushchenko of Ukraine held consultative meeting on black market
The President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko held a consultative meeting with the Security Service (SBU) Head Valentin Nalyvaychenko, National Bank Chairman Vladimir Stelmakh, First
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| President Yushchenko, SBU head Nalyvaychenko at the session |
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Deputy Head of State Customs Service Igor Pinkovsky, Deputy Prosecutor General Tatyana Kornyakova, Deputy Head of State Tax Administration Natalia Ruban, representatives of Ukrainian major banks dedicated to fighting black market and corruption in banking sector, official website of the Ukrainian President says.
Speaking at the meeting President Yushchenko pointed to the growth of black market: last year which has reached 31.1% of GDP. "This is not a question of Government policy but the issue of national security", - President warned, adding that according to the World Bank estimates, the shadow sector of Ukrainian economy is over 50%. President Yushchenko urged the Security Service, NBU, law enforcement agencies to intensify efforts to protect the economic borders of Ukraine.
According to President Yushchenko the negative tendencies result from smuggling and corruption in customs bodies, shady transfers through payment systems and at interbank market with weakness of law enforcement bodies' activity in the economic field. Viktor Yushchenko noted that over 70% of smuggling operations were carried out at boarder checkpoints. The President also stressed assurance that the existence of shadow schemes would be impossible without involvement of banks. Striking evidence of that the President called the uncovering of the conversion centre by the Security Service and Prosecutor General's Office at the end of May, through which currency funds were transferred abroad and smuggling was financed.
Australians want to get names of Soviet KGB and GRU Cold War moles
In a comment on appointment of John Faulkner as the new Australian Defence Minister, daily newspaper The Australian points out that Faulkner will find his stated commitment to freedom of information and transparent government tested, especially with regard to security and intelligence. The paper suggests the new minister could contribute to openness in the public interest by releasing crucial materials on Soviet penetration of Australia's intelligence system during the Cold War.
The paper notes that in the voluminous KGB files which were smuggled West in 1992 and published in two hefty volumes, the Mitrokhin archive, a notable omission was the material dealing with KGB operations in Australia. Such material exists and it was sent by the British intelligence authorities to Canberra in September 1992 but has been suppressed, according to The Australian.
The Australian Federal Police was asked to conduct a check on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). This inquiry was called Operation LIVER; it was halted in 1995. Separately, then prime minister Paul Keating asked senior diplomat Michael Cook to conduct an inquiry into Soviet penetration of ASIO. He did so in 1993-94 and is reported to have found such a counter-intelligence mess that the whole organisation was compromised. But his report was classified and remains tightly guarded. Cook is reported to have concluded that there had been four Soviet moles inside ASIO right through to the end of the Cold War. All four were quietly retired on full pension.
KGB and GRU (Soviet military intelligence) moles in Australia may have been recruited as early as the 1960s, but the public still do not even know their code names because the Mitrokhin archive on Australia has been withheld under what used to be called a D-Notice.
The daily emphasizes that Russian and Chinese espionage has been resurgent in Australia in recent years. ASIO set up a new counter-espionage and interference division a few years ago to deal with it. However, it is almost impossible to have confidence in such a division as long as the truth about what happened in the Cold War remains suppressed, The Australian marks.
Imprisoned US anti-mob lawyer goes on hunger strike in Belarus
An American lawyer sentenced in Belarus for commercial espionage has gone on a hunger strike to protest against delays in considering his bid for amnesty, online paper Khartiya'97 reports.
Emmanuel Zeltser was sentenced to three years behind bars in March 2008 after being convicted at a closed trial for commercial espionage and using false documents. He is an expert on organized crime and money laundering.
AIA followed the development of Zelser's case since the leading US anti-mob lawyer and director of the American Russian Law Institute (ARLI), an NGO specialising in legal and financial sector reform in the former Soviet republics, was detained by Belarus State Security Committee (KGB) in Minsk in March, 2008. Zeltser's assistant, a citizen of Russian Federation, Vladlena Funk (Bluzkova), was also arrested. The Belarus State Security Committee immidiately brought a criminal case on drug trafficking against Zeltser.
Spokesperson from Zeltser's organisation, Oxana Adler, said the arrest was almost certainly retaliation by one or more Russian organised crime groups for Zeltser's hand in ruining lucrative money-running operations a decade ago, according to DPA news agency.
The United States raised protests over his detention and raised concerns about his health in custody, since his attorney says he is not getting proper medication for diabetes. The medical commission examined Emanuel Zeltser in the KGB jail and allegedly found him be "in the state suitable for being in custody, according to KGB spokesman Valery Nadtochayev.
Today, Zeltser told his attorney Dmitry Goryachko he had begun a hunger strike demanding amnesty, Khartiya'97 reports. Under a new Belarus law signed in early May by President Alexander Lukashenko, all prisoners sentenced for minor misdemeanors, for less than six years and already at least halfway through their term, can be released early, online paper notes. Zeltser evidently hopes that a hunger strike will help attract attention to the bureaucratic delay.
Uzbekistan's border security agents involved in new "incident" amid growing tensions between neighbours
In early May, online paper Ferghana.ru reported that Alisher Boikuziev, of Zafarabad, Tajikistan, was gunned down and beaten by Uzbek border security agents in Syr Darya Oblast in Uzbekistan.
Other online media, Registan.net, is reporting now, less than a month later, that Uzbek border security agents have killed a Kyrgyz citizen and unilaterally set up a border post along the main road of Jalalabad Oblast in Kyrgyzstan.
Tensions between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have been building for some time now, at least since the bombings in Khanabad, observers note. Neweurasia.net writes that there might be another angle as well: just last week Islam Karimov declared that cross-border traffic between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan a very common occurrence the Ferghana Valley would stop at once.
The incident could be a very unfortunate example of enforcing a harsh and unnecessary law, online paper says. It presumes it could also just be pure thuggery given previous "incidents" of Uzbek security agents behaving viciously, it is not out of the question. Right now this incident seems tied into the growing tensions between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
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