MP Anja Bah Žibert pointed out that the media publishing classified information is not just an abuse of the Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services (Komisija za nadzor obveščevalnih in varnostnih služb –referred to as KNOVS) for political purposes, but also a threat to the operating of intelligence and security services, as well as a threat to the national security. MP Dejan Kaloh pointed out that there is a serious concern that Slovenia’s national interest was endangered during the inspection of the Slovene Intelligence and Security Agency (Slovenska varnostno-obveščevalna služba – hereinafter referred to as SOVA), as the supervisory board also discussed Thursday’s violent protests and talked about the names of the protesters. “A serious concern exists, that these media outlets now have these names,” Kaloh said.
At Monday’s press conference, SDS MPs Anja Bah Žibert and Dejan Kaloh presented the reasons for filing a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator, suspected of releasing classified information. Bah Žibert pointed out that some details of the unannounced inspection of the Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services were presented in the media, about which even certain members of KNOVS knew nothing about, which indicated that an abuse of the Commission has happened, which should not happen in a democratic society. MP and KNOVS member Dejan Kaloh pointed out that just a few hours after the inspection at the National Bureau of Investigation (Nacionalni preiskovalni urad – hereinafter referred to as NPU) and SOVA happened, two media outlets – 24.ur and Dnevnik – reported on it in detail, with information, which leaves no room for doubt about the fact that an unknown perpetrator from the inner circle of five people who were present at the inspections, released classified information.
Last week, the Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services once again carried out unannounced inspections at the Slovene Intelligence and Security Agency, the General Police Directorate (Generalna policijska uprava – hereinafter referred to as GPU), and at the National Bureau of Investigation. The authorized group that carried out the unannounced inspections was appointed by the KNOVS parliamentary group, at Sunday’s noon session. Shortly after that, the 24ur.com web portal reported on the aforementioned inspections, and also provided quite a few details, which make it clear that the information had to come from an internal or well-informed source.
[color-box color=”yellow”] In addition to Bah Žibert and Kaloh, the members of KNOVS are: Matjaž Nemec (SD), Jerca Korče (LMŠ), Rudi Medved (LMŠ), Primož Siter (Levica), Monika Gregorčič (SMC), Zmago Jelinčič (SNS), and Blaž Pavlin (NSi). [/color-box]
Last week, KNOVS once again carried out an unannounced inspection at the General Police Directorate, the National Bureau of Investigation, and SOVA. Matjaž Nemec wants to prove, in any way he can, that the Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs’ orders for the revision of certain notorious scandals from the past, are illegal, and that Hojs is illegally interfering in the work of the Police. With his guidelines and mandatory instructions for the Police issued in July, Hojs ordered a revision of the investigations of the Bank of Slovenia from 2012, the case of alleged abuse of Pro Plus’ dominant position in television advertising, the criminal complaint against the NLB bankers in the Farrokh case which was rejected last year, the alleged corruption in healthcare in the case of purchasing the vascular stents, and the case of investigation of suspected abnormalities in the children’s cardiac programme.
It seems that with his decision, Hojs stirred up a hornet’s nest, which is also evident from the behaviour of the SD MP Matjaž Nemec, who also leads KNOVS. During the previous inspections, there were also some irregularities, namely, the fact that MP Jerca Korče was also part of it, even though her mother, the director of the NLB section for foreign payment transactions, was also involved in the Irangate affair. And during the second unannounced inspection, some information was leaked, which was then revealed to the public by the commercial media house POP TV.
Sara Bertoncelj
