NABU accuses SBU of surveilling detectives and intercepting their communications

The director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Semen Kryvonos, stated that the SBU is conducting systematic surveillance of bureau employees and intercepting their communications.

He made the announcement at a briefing on NABU’s work over the past six months.

According to Kryvonos, two weeks ago surveillance was detected on one of the bureau’s employees while he was carrying out official duties. The NABU director stressed that this was not an isolated incident.

“An enormous amount of resources is being directed at studying what we do. If the activity is aimed at knowing when we conduct searches, then what is the purpose of that? This is not an isolated case — we simply don’t talk about everything and don’t publish everything, since this is also a matter of protecting our materials and information,” Kryvonos said.

Kryvonos described the SBU’s actions as unlawful, but at the same time assured that there is no conflict between the agencies.

“We have no conflicts whatsoever, with anyone. We have a different category. Unlawful actions against our employees. These are unlawful actions,” the NABU director noted.

Kryvonos also clarified that the surveillance of detectives is ongoing and covers a wide range of tools.

“Court decision registries are constantly being monitored, all manner of registries are constantly being monitored, ‘Safe City’ — where our vehicles travel and the movements of our detectives,” he said.

This is not the first such accusation against the SBU. In June, NABU had already claimed that the security service had planted a wiretap in the apartment of the head of one of the bureau’s detective units.