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| December 21, 2005, Interview given by the Security-Information Agency Director to the weekly Telegraph |
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INTERVIEW GIVEN BY THE SECURITY-INFORMATION AGENCY DIRECTOR TO THE WEEKLY TELEGRAPH (NEDELJNI TELEGRAF) NO 504 ON DECEMBER 12, 2005
During the last weeks in the Belgrade media, several articles and information appeared in which it was asserted that the secret police taps members of the Serbian National Assembly. Some party leaders gave statements asserting that they were victims of the Security-Information Agency. In addition, then followed the wave of demands to disband the Security-Information Agency (here in after the BIA). In the interview given to the Weekly Telegraph the Director of our secret police Rade Bulatovic on the direct question whether the BIA has taped the Serbian MPs said: - Those articles are false. It is a complete fabrication that comes from a group of people that spread fear of the secret service, and who try with such tricks and campaigns to distinguish themselves and to find their place in the public arena. I responsibly assert that the BIA does not tap MPs, not single one of the 250 of them, nor will it ever tap. The Service neither taps the members of a famous Group 22. On that occasion, we gave an official statement and denied such articles, but we were forced, because of the need to tell the truth, to submit a request to the Prosecutor’s Office to bring criminal charges because of harassing the public and spreading lies. * How many decisions a year does the BIA get from the competent court as a permit for secret tapping of people? Whom does the BIA tap? - Yearly, we get the minimum of needed permits for practicing this work method. I would also stress that we get significantly less decisions than in the previous period. We tap people that come into conflict with the law and those that endanger the national security. * The thesis emerged that you continue with the continuity of the RDB (State Security Service) and that you behave as a repressive state organ. Because of that, we publicly suggest to you to get rid of old personnel and to employ completely new people. - We are a specific state institution that in one of its purviews, for example the work methods, maintained the continuity with the former state security services. After year 2002, a serious discontinuity with the former service and personnel was carried out in the BIA, and with the objectives and the methods of our work. It is known that the BIA has from its operations ejected, for example, the category of internal and political enemy, political emigrants and dissidents. Moreover, the BIA has turned over to the History Archive all the documents and files on people that were politically persecuted in Serbia during the last decades. * But the BIA maintained both personnel and working methodology from Tito’s to Milosvi’s Service and the DOS State Security Service? - The BIA is not fast food service, to be able to prepare new generation of inspectors for one day or a month. One needs three to five years to train only one secret service inspector, and that a beginner. That is the reason why we still have old personnel. Nevertheless, one must not forget that we have many new people. For the last one and a half year, the period that I am the Director, some 25 percent of employees left the Agency. A significant part left the Service before my appointment, during years 2002 and 2003. In the meantime we employed 150 new people all of them with a university degree and they are all today engaged in the operational line of work. * How much is the BIA a party police, and how much a secret service that protects citizens and the country of foreign agencies and international terrorism? - I do not know why the public impression is that the BIA is a party police. In the last year and a half, it did not influence internal political events. It has been in the function of protecting all Serbian citizens and the national security. What some people assert that the BIA is the police that persecute its people is the consequence of the use of the cliché from former periods or, even, the need of some leaders, who lost their credibility to create for themselves new political position. If their assertions are a sign that the BIA is powerful, then it is good. However, I believe that it is more a sign of irresponsible public appearance of some politicians and self-proclaimed security analysts, who are dragging us into their political conflicts. * The belief reigns that the BIA persecutes more than it protects its citizens? - The Agency was not prepared to publicly defend it self from the practice to frighten people with the secret service. I acknowledge that we were a little closed for public, but we are trying to change that. More and more citizens are getting in touch with us and are giving their remarks and suggestions. * And what are our people informing the security police? - Nothing special, more precise nothing that is of a great importance for the work of the BIA. This phone number is for now in the experimental operation phase and citizens still do not know what kind of information they need to inform us. They mainly denounce criminal acts and criminals that are under the authority of the Ministry of Interior. * In the reports that you submit to the Assembly Security Committee there is not much information on how many foreign agents the BIA has discovered or thwarted their work or detained them in Serbia? - That field of work is according to regulations secret. Nevertheless, our estimates indicate that the activities of foreign services in the last period have intensified, but not as much as it is often asserted and exaggerated in the public. In the last months, there was neither more severe blow form a foreign service on the security of Serbia, nor has the BIA conducted actions on discovering and detaining foreign agents. * Do the foreign services destabilize Serbia, for example, through placing and initiating different scandals or conflicts on our political arena? - Not as much as some people that publicly exaggerate the importance of foreign factor in Serbia think or how much they wish it to be. It is difficult to free one from implanted prejudices that things that are happening to us originate from foreign spy pots. We are always spreading rumors of world plots. * Does and if yes, how much does the BIA cooperate with foreign agencies and services, with the aim to protect the national security? - The BIA closely cooperates with 46 foreign services in the domain of countering international terrorism and organized crime. We have conducted several different types of joint actions against terrorists and international criminals, and the most important was the operation of seizing Abdelmaid Bouchar, Al-Qaeda collaborator from Spain. Our Agency is evaluated as the stabilization factor of the security situation on the Balkans. After all, it is clear to everyone that without such international cooperation of secret services today no country can be safe. * There were critics that it was not the BIA that detained Bouchar, but a diligent police officer with a large moustache in the train. - Exactly, that an ordinary police officer being able to detect and detain a dangerous terrorist is the main point of an established security system operation! The security of our country begins at the border. The BIA had the information on Al-Qaeda members transiting through Serbia. * It is often mentioned in the international security institutions and NATO that BiH is one of accomplices of Islam terrorists that have shelter also in Kosovo and Metohija (here in after Kosmet). How much is such information accurate? - They are mainly accurate. Recently, in BiH a group of international terrorists was detained that hade certain connections in Sandzak and Kosmet. However, besides the BIA, about that buckle that connects Islamists in BiH and some parts of Serbia the international security forces take care of that. Therefore, I do not expect that that link shall further strengthen. * When the assassination attempt was attempted on Vuk Draskovic, individuals from the RDB of Serbia declared that the service needs to eliminate certain Albanian terrorists and associates. Recently, nevertheless, there are talks about the operation of the Albanian lobby in Belgrade. What are the estimates, what is going to happen in Kosmet and southern Serbia when the negotiations commence in Vienna? - I do not wish to comment on the RDB work, because in that period I was not in Belgrade. Today, there are no problems with Albanians in the capital city. We do not have information on an operation of a national Albanian lobby. Estimates are that the begging of negotiations shall create a tense atmosphere both in Kosmet and in southern Serbia. In Kosmet, however, the international forces keep the situation in their hands, and the situation in southern Serbia is stable. There were no interethnic incidents and conflicts. The BIA has discovered and seized in that area large amount of old and buried weapons and ammunition and in that way reduced the risk of its use. * Nonetheless, in the very center of Belgrade there were attempts to place explosive devices in front of the Presidency building of Serbia or the airport. How does the BIA struggle against such cases the so-called internal terror? - The preventive counter-sabotage defense, especially of high state officials is under the competence of the BIA. We do not have information or estimates on serious threats, to not only the president or the prime minister, but also other high state representatives. Only one serious threat existed against one of the ministers, but we have eliminated it. Generally, our officials are safe and not one of them is personally threatened. Safe are also other public and eminent individuals. This internal terror as you have named it is completely eradicated. We have solved almost all murder cases in Serbia. After the assassination of Bata Bulatovic, the secretary of FS SCG (Football Association of the Serbia and Montenegro) there was no other secrete murder in Serbia, which demonstrates its stability. * During the last visit to Belgrade, the Hague prosecutor Carla Del Ponte asked about Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. The minister of interior Dragan Jocic told that MUP continuously searches for them. What about the BIA? - I can only comment that search for war crime indicted, even for Mladic and Hadzic, falls under our authority and we are giving complete contribution for the fulfillment of this task. The BIA regularly informs the Serbian Government and other state organs about this. * In Serbian, press articles appeared that the BIA is in a sense polarized about the question of cooperation with the ICTY. Namely, that one current in the BIA tries to locate and detain Mladic, and Karadzic and the other to protect them. - It is another completely untrue thesis about the BIA: the Agency and all its staff members act uniformly, professionally and without restraints with regard to meeting all legal obligations, including those concerning the ICTY. * This year we have faced the inter-ethnic incidents and neo-Nazi activities in Vojvodina. Why did you not warn the state and political leaderships that the inter-ethnic conflicts were going to escalate in the Province? - We monitored every incident that broke out in Vojvodina and concluded that neo-Nazism had not escalated. Judging by the inter-ethnic incidents, which neither increased in number nor more severe than incidents of previous years, the situation in Vojvodina is safe. There are no indications that the inter-ethnic relations might be disturbed. The extremists, who attracted attention both of the BIA and some other international factors, are not strong and dangerous enough to jeopardize the security situation. * There are rumours that the neo-Nazi in Vojvodina were activated from the outside by foreign agencies and that the BIA consequently reacted and made a list of all members of these groups. - They were neither incited from the outside nor did the BIA make a list of the neo-Nazi groups’ members. All kinds of extremists, including the right-wing ones, represent a filed of interest both of the public and secret police. We did not take any special action against them. * What does the Draft Law on Insight into Files of Security Services stipulate? How will possible abuses, including political abuses of these files and ‘leakage’ of information into the public, be prevented? - According to our Draft Law, the files would be handed over to the Archive of Serbia and the Law should prevent any kind of data abuse. We believe it is understood that beside personal usage by individuals in question these files might be used only in scientific purposes. * Serbia is in a period of big decisions, including decisions on the status of the State Union, the status of Kosmet, the demand for changing the status of Vojvodina … How much will all these issues influence the destabilization of Serbia? - It depends on the evolution of these processes, in which atmosphere and circumstances they will proceed. If these issues are solved in a democratic way, the security of Serbia will not be endangered. However, if the processes exceed a democratic framework, they might become a potential threat. Nowadays, Serbia is a stable and secure country, what many representatives of the international community confirm. The IMF representatives have officially confirmed that Serbia is safe for foreign investments, flow of capital and movements. This means that it is also capable of dealing with possible security risks. THE DIRECTOR WITHOUT A DEPUTY * What is the structure of the Agency’s leadership? Who are your closest associates? - My closest associates are two special advisors. The first is Mr. Sveto Koprivica in charge of the counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism. He has a B.S. in economics and has been working in the Service for years. The second is Mr. Radenko Novakovic, with a B.A. degree in law and is in charge of the intelligence, i.e. collecting political, economic, security and other information concerning the foreign factor important for the security of Serbia. He is also an experienced operative of the Service. Both of them are honorable people, without a stain in their careers. According to the BIA’s structure, I do not have assistants but I have a deputy, whom we are currently looking for. The position of the Deputy Director has been empty for several reasons but we are working towards appointing one of the experienced operatives of the Agency. * Several days ago, a member of the BIA was arrested in Pozarevac being charged with extortion. Has the Agency begun struggling against corruption within its ranks? If it has, which are its ways of struggle? - The Agency is decisively struggling against such phenomena. Object of this case is a firearm-shooting instructor, who was sentenced with the termination of his labor contract as soon as the information about his criminal act had been received. The BIA is a part of the society so that it also includes individuals who have committed various criminal acts. The number of such persons in the Agency is very small but we have estimated even that number as dangerous. Criminal proceedings were initiated against all those persons and they were eliminated from the BIA, which honestly speaking formerly was not the practice. ORGANIZED CRIME EXISTS BUT IS NOT OMNIPOTENT * How much does the BIA help the Police and Judiciary to solve the cases of murders of Slavko Curuvija and Milan Pantic who are alleged to be victims of the very Secret Service i.e. organized crime? - The BIA immediately gives the Ministry of Interior of Serbia all the information, which it gains through different channels, particularly information on murders. All the documents concerning the activities of the State Security Department in Curuvija case, which had been in the possession of the BIA, were also handed over to the Police i.e. to the Organized Crime Directorate (UBPOK). These documents were declassified. The BIA did not keep anything, meaning that it did not try to hush up the case. The UBPOK has been investigating whether the murder of Slavko Curuvija might be connected with certain members of the RDB. * There were rumors that the BIA and the UBPOK were disputing for a while over competences in certain enquiries. - I do not know what the situation had been before I came to the Agency but I claim that we do not have any misunderstanding with the colleagues of the Organized Crime Directorate. We give the UBPOK about 95% of information and material that we collected on all kinds of crime in Serbia. The BIA fulfils its part of the task so that there is no room for envy, vanity, conflicts or misunderstandings. We have great cooperation with the Criminal Police Department also as with the entire Ministry of Interior. Our cooperation with the National Security Agency of Montenegro is excellent too. We are leading a joint struggle against organized crime involved in smuggling drugs, stolen cars and illegal migrants from Montenegro into Serbia. * In which case did you cooperate with the UBPOK the last time? How does the BIA evaluate the situation of organized crime in Serbia nowadays? - We were jointly working on a bribe case of a judge of the Supreme Court. We estimate that organized crime in Serbia is still rather powerful but not omnipotent any more since it does not have support in political structures. In the long run, organized crime without politicians can not strengthen but only weaken. ALL DECISIONS COME FROM BELGRADE * What is the current organizational structure of the BIA? - Our structure and budget are not secret for the public. The BIA’s Headquarters are in Belgrade, including nine Departments, Training Centre, Security Institute and Communication Centre. Beside that, we have 16 regional centers in all bigger towns in Serbia. The biggest ones are in Novi Sad and Nis. * What is the management coordination between the Headquarters in Belgrade and the regional centers? One can get the impression that in the provinces some Service members might be ‘working’ for the local authorities or certain politicians. - The BIA is a republic institution directly connected with the Government of Serbia and all our regional centers are directly connected with Belgrade. It means that they have nothing to do with the local authorities, political parties or politicians. According to the orders upon which they operate, coordination between the Headquarters and the regional centers as well as their control is carried out directly so that the BIA members cannot do anything without the decisions being reached in Belgrade. There was not a single case of a Service member ‘acting’ independently without authorization and for the benefits or in the interest of a political party or politician. The BIA is completely depoliticized. According to the law, its staff must not be members of political parties. As the Director, I am not a member of any political party and I was not a member of the JUL as some people claimed. One of the main recruitment conditions is that candidates must be non-party persons. NOBODY FROM GOVERNMENT CALLS ME * What kind of pressure are you exposed to as the leading man of the secret police? Do the Government members, MPs or media exert pressure on you? - Not a single member of the Serb Government has ever called me to ask or suggest something outside my legal competences. I have never felt pressure by politicians or members of the Parliament. I am only under the pressure by self-proclaimed security analysts and certain media that publish groundless reports on the BIA’s work and my alleged political engagement. Some of them call for dissolution and extinction of the Security Information Agency claiming that the same was done in some countries, which is not true. In my opinion, it is an attack on our security service. * Where will you continue your professional career after the expiry of your term of office in the BIA? - After the BIA I see myself in the diplomacy again! |
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| December 17, 2005, Concerning security services secret dossies |
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Extracts from the articles, published on December 17, 2005, in the daily newspaper "Politika"
The citizens of Serbia, who had been under surveillance and whose communications have been monitored by the Serbian secret services during the past 60 years, will soon be able to see their dossiers. Namely, according to the statement of Mr. Nikola Bajic, the Chief of Cabinet to the Director of BIA, given to the daily "Politika", the Security- Information Agency has forwarded its draft of the law on opening security services' dossiers, to the Ministry for state administration and local rule, which will give its expert opinion on this issue. The authors of the draft text come from a team of BIA legal experts, and the law itself is comprised of 26 articles. This law is expected to be adopted before the summer of 2006, after the adoption of the new Law on BIA, which is in the process of being drafted. Mr. Zoran Bankovic, the BIA Head of the Analysis Department, explained in his exclusive statement, given to "Politika", what is contained in the draft of the Law on opening of security services' dossiers. "It is in plan to open all the dossiers, which have been kept from the time of the Department for the protection of the people (Odeljenje za zastitu naroda - OZNA), till the time of the adoption of this law", said Bankovic. According to the statements of our interlocutors, the draft of the law precisely defines which category of the dossiers will be opened. The dossiers that will be opened are from the category of the so-called domestic enemies, i.e. the persons who had been characterized by the past authorities, as ideological and political opponents. On the other hand, it is considered that the dossiers of individuals who had been involved in terrorism and organized crime, as well as the dossiers about collaborators of the service, should not be opened. As Mr. Nikola Bajic stated, the decision has been made to deposit all the dossiers in the National Archive of Serbia, after the passing of this law. It is significant that BIA, VBA and the Agency for National Security of Montenegro (Agencija za nacionalnu bezbednost), have achieved consensus on this issue, and decided that the dossiers should be deposited in the National Archive, even though it had previously been considered to establish separate agencies or commissions which would be responsible for the dossiers. The dossiers will be available for reading by the persons about whom they had been kept, and also by their descendants, authorized state agents, authorized academic institutions and academic researchers. As Mr. Bankovic explained, "The dossiers will not disclose information relating to the members of the security services, the collaborators of the services, the persons serving as sources of information and third persons appearing in the dossiers, who are mentioned in the dossiers out of context." The citizens will have the right to see the photocopy of the dossier, and not the original documents. The text of the original document will be able to be seen, in cases when a citizen, suffering damage, files a complaint based on suspicion that a crime had been committed in the course of keeping the dossier, which would enable the availability of the full text to the court". BIA had forwarded the draft of the law to OSCE Mission in Serbia and Montenegro, which has given several recommendations, some of which have been accepted by BIA. One of these ideas was to open all the dossiers up to the date when the law will come into force, and not to the date of the establishment of BIA, as it had formerly been foreseen. Mr. Bankovic explained, "Ever since the transformation of the State Security Service (RDB) into BIA, we have stopped keeping the dossiers about the persons holding different views. In other words, from 2002, we no longer have such dossiers." One of the recommendations put forward by OSCE, which was adopted by BIA, refers to giving the possibility to the persons looking in at their dossiers, to keep notes. It had previously been planned for the person looking at his/her dossier not to have the right to take notes, nor to take photocopies, but this was changed, following the recommendation of OSCE. Mr. Bankovic concluded, "All interested parties must take part in the making of such a law, and only by joint work, free of prejudice and mistrust, can a law be passed in the right sense of the word - a law which will help its citizens to exercise their democratic rights".. The greatest number of Informative Bureau members In accordance with the Law on public goods, BIA has in the middle of this year (2005) started the process of handing over its old documents, those older than 30 years, which were deposited into the National Archive of Serbia, to be put into the procedure, preserved and made available. The complete documentation, dating up to 1976, have been handed over to the Archive to be put into the procedure. The process of passing over the archive documents has gained velocity in BIA, in order to enable a speedy resolution of this issue, after the passing of this law. This material consists of about 600 000 pages of documents and around 8 500 dossiers. The greatest number of documents relate to the period of the Informative Bureau (approximately 90 % of documents). The documents also relate to the issues of anarcho-liberals, liberals... As Mr. Zoran Bankovic explained in his statement to the daily "Politika", the documents also contain dossiers on Mrs. Latinka Perovic, Mr. Rajko Danilovic, Mr. Marko Nikezic, Mr. Dragoljuv Micunovic, Mr. Laslo Sekelj and many others. Dušan Telesković
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| Jun 27, 2005, The BIA permanently handed over a part of its documentation to the Archives of Serbia |
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On June 27, 2005, the Security Information Agency (BIA) delivered its records to the Archives of Serbia. In keeping with the decision made by the BIA director to hand over the records permanently, we have separated and prepared the documents created during the Second World War and later, until 1956, which refers to IB groups, detention centers (Rab, Mermer, Vares and Bileca), Gestapo, BDS, NOS during the Second World War, SS division "Skenderbeg", volksdeutschers, ZBOR, chetniks etc. From a total amount of 227.000 pages of documentation, we have handed over 158.000 pages, which make the majority of the total sum. The records have been packed into 94 packages and transferred from the BIA Headquarters to the Archives of Serbia under maximum-security measures. The handover of the documents has been made between the BIA Director, Rade Bulatovic, and the Director of the Archives of Serbia, Vjera Mitrovic. |
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| December 24, 2004, The completion of the reconstruction of the building at the BIA Headquarters |
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After the dedication ceremony, the newly-reconstructed building at the headquarters of the Security and Information Agency, located in Banjica, was officially declared open on December 24, 2005. This marked the successful completion of two-year efforts (backed by the understanding and significant support of the government of the Republic of Serbia) put into the reconstruction and bringing into function of the building, which had been severely damaged in the 1999 NATO bombing. The reconstruction of this building, together with the enlargement of the Agency's capacities, represents a lasting solution to the problem of providing working space for all Agency members, taking into consideration that the constituent segments of our Agency have, over the last five years, been scattered around different parts of the city, which made it difficult to carry out the regular tasks from the scope of BIA activities, on the adequate level of professionalism. The building has been constructed and equipped in compliance with the contemporary demands of the activities of the Agency, in its efforts to efficiently deal with the security challenges facing it. Please look at the photos of the dedication ceremony |
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| December 23, 2004, A reception in BIA headquarters, for media representatives |
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On the occasion of the New-Year and Christmas holidays, on December 23, 2005, for the first time in history, a reception was held in the headquarters building of the Security and Information Agency, for the media representatives, to which were invited the editors-in-chief, the directors and journalists from the newspapers and TV companies of the Republic of Serbia. Such occasions are meant to become traditional, with a view to deepen mutual understanding and timely interchange of information, of interest to both sides. |
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| December 6, 2004, Exhibition of items and documents at the Headquarters of the BIA |
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Photographs of items and documents from an earlier period exhibited at the Headquarters Security Information Agency in Belgrade ( further details... ) |
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| October 24, 2004, PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT |
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For the last several days, we have seen frequent unsubstantiated attacks against the Security Information Agency, by raising doubt over the legitimacy of its work and underestimating its transformation process into a modern European security institution of democratic Serbia. The idea of creating a situation in the Agency in which its leadership and members would have to deal more with themselves, rather than with the tasks and duties out of its jurisdiction, is evident. In this manner, the public would have the perception that the security system in the country is unstable and collapsing. These unsubstantiated and malicious attacks are chosen to take place during the celebration of a newly established Agency Day and throughout its reorganization, verified by the Government of the Republic of Serbia, which comprises, among other issues, formal and essential abolition of "internal enemy" category, making it transparent in all the areas of work, from admitting the mistakes and misuses committed in the past, in other words starting from determination to clarify them completely, until the effort to ensure the adequate place within the international security community, in which the Agency is treated as an unavoidable factor of cooperation and stability in the region. Being absolutely aware of the need to establish legal framework provided by the new Constitution, and by clearly defined national and defense strategy, the Agency is prepared to give its contribution to advance transformation process for the purpose of arranging the work of all security structures, by submitting drafts of the Law on files and the new Law on Security Information Agency, along with the initiatives of other society segments. In the period to come, the Security Information Agency will start the procedure of enacting the mentioned Laws. The Security Information Agency is investing a lot of efforts and facing a lot of difficulties, appropriate to the situation in our country and in its neighborhood, in order to fulfill its regular duties, exclusively and solely in keeping with its legal authorizations. The leadership and other members of the Agency have never been more determined and willing to work for the purpose of protecting national and state interests, instead of fulfilling anybody's private interests. This may be the reason why the Agency is constantly being attacked by the ones that are not inclined to stability of this institution, or any other state institution, and to the efficiency and professionalism of its members. |
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| October 15th, 2004, The celebration of the Day of the Security- Information Agency (BIA) took place |
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In the presence of the highest representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, as well as members of military-security structures, members of the judiciary and accredited representatives of foreign Intelligence Services, the Day of the Security- Information Agency (BIA) was celebrated. . Detailed... |
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| The Day of the Security Information Agency of the Republic of Serbia has been established |
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Based on the Law on the Security Information Agency, the Agency Director issued a Directive regarding the Day of the Security Information Agency of the Republic of Serbia, stating the following: October the 17th is hereby established as the Day of the Agency in remembrance of October 17th 1899 (October 5th by the Gregorian Calendar), the date when the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbia passed the Law on the amendment of the organization of the Central State Administration, by which the Division for confidential police work was, for the first time, established as part of the Ministry of Interior. This Division was tasked with the "protection of the Internal State Order and the overall security of the country". |
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| April 15, 2004, PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT |
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Official statement
Considering and adopting suggestions of Rade Bulatovic, the Director of the Security Information Agency, during its session held on April 15, 2004, the Government of the Republic of Serbia has made a decision, in keeping with the First Municipal Court Ruling, which came into effect and became feasible on December 12, 2001, to publicly remove all the listening devices from the private house belonging to Vuk Draskovic and from the official premises of Serbian Renewal Movement in Belgrade. The Government has, also, decided to release the Security Information Agency, and its members subject to Court executive rulings, from the obligation of protecting the state secret. Although under no obligation to carry out the Ruling with the public presence, the Agency has decided to adopt a public manner of applying the Court Ruling, taking into consideration the principles of Constitutionalism, legality and professionalism in its work, thus overcoming the inheritance from the past, when political opponents have been monitored secretly. SECURITY INFORMATION AGENCY
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| March 15, 2004, Belongings were given back to Mihajlovic's family |
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Official statement: Pursuant to the decision of Rade Bulatovic, the Director of the Security-Information Agency, personal belongings of General Dragoljub Mihailovic, commander of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, during the World War II (camera, cigarette-holder, wristwatch, ring, maps, personal mail, a pistol etc.) were given back to his family . Upon the conversation with the director of BIA, the grandson of general Mihailovic, Vojislav Mihailovic estimated this act as "an act of good will of the new government with the intention to find out the facts about Mihailovic's execution place". |
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| Part of the documentary material handed over to the Historical Archives of Belgrade by the BIA |
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Official statement: In accordance with the transformation of the Security-Information Agency and of its approach to modern European security systems, along with opening up to cooperation with institutions and citizens, at the end of December the BIA handed over for permanent use to the Historical Archives of Belgrade more than 22,000 pages of documentary material. The permanent handing over of archive material represents part of the reform process in the Republic of Serbia and in the Security-Information Agency in accordance with the law and other regulations. This practice is being carried out also by foreign security services. This act is the best way to deny various disinformation regarding the destroying of the archive material of the Service. Aware of the significance of such an action, the leadership of the Agency has decided to hand over available archive depositories also to other archive institutions. Owing to the great engagement of the employees, the archive material has been saved from ruin and destruction under the gravest circumstances during the NATO bombing. Given the fact that the previous buildings were destroyed, the BIA is, even today, faced with the problem that its archive depositories are not in function, because of the lack of adequate premises. At the joint press conference of the representatives of the Historical Archives of Belgrade and the representatives of the BIA, it was assessed that this move represents the beginning of a serious cooperation in which the documents of the secret police, from OZNA (Department for the Security of the People), through UDBA (State Security Administration), up to the DB (State Security Service), shall be successively handed over, which is of essential importance to shed light on our newer history in the second half of the twentieth century. The handed over material includes reports from agents of the Administration of the city of Belgrade (Nedic's police force) and the GESTAPO during the war period, personal files of the employees in the City Administration during 1941, denunciations and interrogations of citizens arrested by the Special Police. The second part of the material is composed of interrogation records, agent reports, parts of trial records and material regarding the political activities of citizens charged for war crimes between the two World Wars, as well as personnel files. |
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| October 12, 2003, PUBLIC STATEMENT |
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In response to frequent unsubstantiated and unfounded accusations against the Security and Information Agency (BIA) in certain media, intended to deny the legality of actions and the professional approach to the fulfillment of tasks and affairs of this Agency, the BIA hereby issues the following PUBLIC STATEMENT
Numerous changes, based on the principles of legality, professionalism, but also on the principle of secrecy indispensable for the functioning and operation of such institutions in all democratic societies, have been implemented through a continuous, planned and clearly defined process of transformation and reform of the Serbian Security Service lasting several months, motivated, above all, by the need to create a modern, professional and specialized institution acting for the benefit of the Republic and its citizens. The process of transformation and reform of the former State Security Service is carried out based on the Law on the Security-Information Agency, adopted during 2002, which, in accordance with the experience of almost all other European countries, separates these activities from the Ministry of Interior (MUP) and creates a separate Agency. The position, role, scope of activities, authority and the mechanism for controlling the activities of the BIA are precisely defined by the stated Law, and its jurisdiction, in addition to intelligence and counterintelligence activities, includes activities on combating both internal and international terrorism, organized crime with foreign element, as well as the gravest criminal acts against humanity and the International Law. In performing its stated tasks, the BIA cooperates with other state bodies and institutions, primarily with the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia which, for the first time, and with the support of the BIA, has the possibility to indirectly monitor telecommunications and information services. Bearing in mind the fact that in our modern world security matters and, above all, combating terrorism and organized crime cannot be treated partially and as isolated phenomena, the reform and transformation of the Serbian Security Service has been conceived, amongst other things, as the forming of an Agency whose resources and engagements shall be compatible with security services of democratic countries, as part of the wider scope of the country’s joining the European integration process. In accordance with these starting points, the BIA has established cooperation with more than 20 security services, which verified it as being a competent interlocutor and partner. The results achieved by the BIA in combating terrorism, industrial and organized crime, bear witness to its contribution. The latest example of BIA’s activities in stamping out terrorism is the arrest of a group of ANA members responsible for several terrorist acts in the territory of Veliki Trnovac and Bujanovac, which the BIA undertook in cooperation with the MUP of Serbia. In addition to this, during 2003 and in cooperation with their colleagues from the MUP of the Republic of Serbia, the Army of Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) and the Customs Authorities, the BIA cut more than 39 routes of illegal trafficking. Amongst other things, it prevented significant malversations in the field of economy which could have caused significant damage to the credibility of the country, such as the attempt to violate the preferential of the European Union. Also, a larger number of illegal routes for the trafficking of drugs and dutiable goods were cut, as a result of which the amount of seized drugs in the Republic of Serbia in 2003 was larger than the total amount of seized drugs in the period 1997 to 2002. Bearing in mind the above stated facts, the BIA decisively denies any possibility that its potentials are in any way being used for exerting pressure on the political scene in Serbia, i.e. in the interest of governing parties and groups, or in the interest of the opposition, or that its work is being controlled or directed by business circles, or in any other way contrary to the defined legal framework. Namely, all activities of the Agency are carried out according to its legally granted jurisdiction under the control of the Government and the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, and all means and methods under its jurisdiction are applied exclusively based on relevant court decisions. For these reasons, the BIA denies all unsubstantiated attacks initiated with the aim to contest and invalidate the attained results, as well as the further reform in the field of security affairs. The Security-Information Agency hereby invites all institutions, public and political figures, members of the media, analysts and experts from the security field, to give their contribution in the form of constructive and substantiated proposals and remarks for the further strengthening and planned reform of the Service, as well as for the establishing of a stabile, legally controlled and modern Service, in the interest of all citizens of the Republic of Serbia. |
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