| Security Service Of Ukraine |
Article Index for Security Service |
Website Links For Security Service |
Information AboutSecurity Service Of Ukraine |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SECURITY SERVICE OF UKRAINE | |
| intelligence agencies | |
| law enforcement in ukraine | |
|
The Security Service of Ukraine (; ''Sluzhba Bezpeky Ukrayiny'', or ''SBU'' as it's sometimes referred to in English) is Ukraine 's main government Security Agency . PURPOSE The SBU is responsible for:
HISTORY The SBU is a successor of the Ukrainian SSR Branch of the KGB , keeping the majority of its 1990s personnel. Since technology espionage expert Ihor Smeshko did become SBU chief. In 2004 , the SBU's Intelligence Department was reorganized into an independent agency called ''Sluzhba Zovnishnioyi Rozvidky'' or '' SZR '' (English: External Intelligence Service). It will be responsible for all kinds of intelligence as well as for external security. For now, the exact functions of SZR, and respective responsibilities of HUR, are not regulated yet. Several years ago, the SBU Subsume d the '' UDO '' (Ukrainian: ''Upravlinnya Derzhavnoyi Okhorony'', English: State Guard Department), the personal protection agency for the highest level of statesmen, former Ninth Directorate of Ukrainian KGB. Appointed on 8 September 2005 to head the SBU was Igor Dryzhchany . SBU's law violation and human rights abuse record SBU's UDO department is known for its Major Mykola Mel'nychenko , the Communications Protection agent in President Leonid Kuchma 's Bodyguard team. Mel'nychenko was the central figure of the Cassette Scandal ( 2000 ) - one of the main events in Ukraine's post-independence history. SBU became involved in the case when Mel'nychenko accused Leonid Derkach, SBU Chief at the time, of several crimes, e.g. of clandestine relations with Russian Mafia leader Semyon Mogilevich. However, the UDO was subsumed into the SBU ''after'' the scandal, so Mel'nychenko himself has never been an SBU agent. Later, SBU played a significant role in the Investigation of the Georgiy Gongadze murder case, the crime that caused the Cassette Scandal itself. In 2004 , General Valeriy Kravchenko, SBU's intelligence representative in Germany , publicly accused his agency of political involvement, including overseas spying on Ukrainian Opposition politicians and German TV journalists. He was fired without returning home. After a half-year of hiding in Germany, Kravchenko has returned to Ukraine and surrendered in October 2004 (an investigation is underway). Later, the agency commanders became involved in the scandal around alleged Poison ing of Viktor Yushchenko —a main candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential Election . Yushchenko felt unwell soon after supper with SBU Chief Ihor Smeshko, at the home of Smeshko's first deputy. However, neither the politician himself nor the investigators have ever directly accused these officers. It is also important to note that UDO has been officially responsible for Yushchenko's personal protection since he became a candidate. During the Orange Revolution , several SBU veterans and Cadet s publicly supported him as president-elect, while the agency as a whole remained neutral. In 2005 , soon after the elections, sacked SBU Chief Smeshko and other intelligence agents raised their own version of the revolution events. According to that version, ''they'' have prevented '' Militsiya '' from violent oppression of the protests, contradicting the orders of President Kuchma and threatening ''militsiya'' with armed involvement of SBU's Special Forces units. This story was first described by the American journalist K.J.Chivers of New York Times and has never been supported documentally or legally. Analysts agree that SBU is relatively free of political involvement compared to the Ukrainian ''militsiya'', which is considered to be mainly responsible for persecution of Opposition activists and ignoring crimes against them. However, the SBU is widely suspected of illegal Surveillance and Eavesdropping of offices and phones. A notable episode of Human Rights abuse by SBU happened during the case of country's worst Serial Killer , Anatoly Onoprienko . Yuriy Mozola, an initial suspect in investigation, has died in SBU custody in Lviv as a result of Torture . Several agents were convicted on the case. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|