Slovakia’s military counterintelligence service VOS probably listened in on conversations involving an MP, Robert Madej of the opposition party Smer, when he spoke to Pravda journalist Vanda Vavrová, the Sme daily reported on Wednesday, November 23, citing a document in its possession.
Sme reported that the VOS kept a record of the conversation even though it was not about any classified or potentially dangerous information. The conversation took place on May 30 and concerned the debate about whether the party would file a motion with the Constitutional Court about changes to the way that parliament selects the general prosecutor.
According to Sme, other documents cited in the media suggest that the telephone calls of senior Defence Ministry staff were also tapped. These included Minister Ľubomír Galko closest associates: the head of the minister’s office, Peter Plučinský; and the head of the economic section, Jarmila Mikušová. The transcripts of their telephone calls do not indicate why they were bugged. According to the recordings, Mikušová on one occasion told Plučinský that she had warned Galko not to listen to "all the bullshit" that he was being delivered by the VOS, commenting that “all they do is run a Google search and pretend that they are providing confidential data”.
Source: Sme
To read more about this story case, please see: Alleged wiretapping by the state provokes concern (updated November 22).
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
