In the first half of this year the number of officially wiretapped people was about the same as in the past: the courts received 1,153 requests and approved 1,089 cases. The use of wiretapping increased only cases when it was asked for by the police or military intelligence. This stems from a report that was discussed by the defence and security parliamentary committee on August 27.
The SIS state intelligence service asked for 100 wiretapping requests, and received as many as 97, the SITA newswire quoted the report. Police, on the other hand, requested 920 wiretappings and were denied 56, the Pravda daily wrote. Military intelligence services made 46 requests, only one of which was refused. Head of the committee Jaroslav Baška told SITA that the committee asks for information on wiretapping requests, and then they compare it with data from the courts. However, they do not ask for the reasons why requests are denied. Opposition member of the committee Martin Fedor (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union) criticised the procedure as a mere checking of statistics, with no real power to inspect of oversee wiretapping.
(Source: SITA, Pravda)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
