SBU officers began investigating illegal wiretapping and video recording of journalists from the Bihus.Info project. We are talking about a video from the network in which his employees probably used drugs at a New Year's corporate party.
Criminal proceedings were opened under Art. 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal acquisition, sale or use of special technical means of obtaining information).
— The SBU is convinced that transparent and unhindered work of independent and professional media is an important condition for the development of Ukraine as a democratic state. Such facts of surveillance should be given a legal assessment, regardless of whether or not facts of possible violation of the law regarding drug trafficking were made public in the materials of covert filming, — they say in the secret service.
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And they note that these facts can only be assessed by law enforcement agencies.
Rada’s reaction to the scandal with Bihus.Info
The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech has already appealed to law enforcement agencies, its chairman, people's deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said on the air of the Unified News telethon.
According to him, in the near future the committee he heads, as well as the Committee on Humanitarian Policy, will consider this issue, and if law enforcement agencies cannot cope, parliamentary control bodies will be involved.
— I hope that a common position of both committees will soon emerge. It is important for us that not only law enforcement agencies respond promptly, but also representatives of the legislative branch assess the inadmissibility of such actions in Ukraine, — emphasized Yurchyshyn.
What is known about the scandal with Bihus.Info
On January 16, the YouTube channel of the information resource Narodnaya Pravda published a video in which members of the Bihus.Info investigative team allegedly used drugs at a New Year's corporate party.
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A few hours after this, project manager Denis Bigus promised tough personnel decisions, while simultaneously noting the illegality of wiretapping and surveillance of his employees.
— The wiretapping and surveillance were illegal, and the goals of those recording were clear. But this is no excuse for what we saw in the video — namely the use of illicit substances by several of our colleagues, — he noted.
Bigus also said that all employees will undergo drug tests.
He soon recorded another video in which he stated that members of his team had been followed for about a year, since fragments of intercepted conversations were edited together from several episodes, months apart.
— And when they didn’t find any professional fakes, they switched to personal ones. As a result, cameras were installed in the room of the girls from the team at the New Year's corporate party, — he said, adding that this is a blatant interference in deeply private life, and the heroes of the published video, using prohibited substances, only harmed themselves, but did not pose a social threat.
Bigus believes that this does not look like spontaneous revenge for any specific material, but rather — for long-term persecution to discredit the project team.
