Director of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) Roman Truba has said that there is a progress in an investigation into bugging in his office and expressed the hope that the results and implicated persons will be announced.
“There is progress in this case. This case has the specifics of the investigation, as cases of this category in Ukraine have not yet been investigated, and there has never been a result. We make every effort to ensure that the public hears about the performers who put bugs in the [SBI] director’s office, and after establishing their identities, it is must be assessed whether it was legal, and in case of violations on their part, to bring them to justice,” he said during the Freedom of Speech program on Ukraina TV channel on Nov. 22 evening.
Truba said that the “the pipe had burst” (last name Truba can be translated as ‘pipe’) records published on the Telegram channel on Nov. 19 were “somewhat expected.”
“And I want to pay attention to the time period when these records were made public, who was the first to publish them and who spread them. And this will be the answer to the question, why and who needs them,” he said.
At the same time, Truba said that he cannot be held responsible for the show that takes place with the records, as the records show is not the working style of the director of the State Bureau of Investigations.
“I believe that such facts are a threat to the independence of the law enforcement system, as the head of the new law enforcement agency for a long period of time, this was not a week, not a month, but a much longer period of time, was bugged,” he said.
Truba said that in the near future, perhaps by the first anniversary of the work of the SBI (Nov. 27) or by the time the Verkhovna Rada continues to consider the bill to reboot the SBI “they are preparing new provocations and the next release of records on the Telegram channel.”
Asked about whether he discussed the cases investigated by the SBI of Ukraine with the Office of the President of Ukraine, Truba said that there are working meetings with the Office of the President, which are attended, in addition to the director of the SBI, by other heads of law enforcement agencies.
“These meetings take place as required, but in no case I have ever received any directions on the lines of inquiries or an emphasis on any criminal proceedings at the meetings or in telephone conversations,” he says.
As reported, on Nov. 19, the “the pipe had burst” Telegram channel published records where it is heard that Truba allegedly received instructions allegedly from Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Bohdan about stopping a number of investigations, and also allegedly received tasks from President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the opening of concrete cases.
Truba said that the released audio recordings are untrue and are a provocation.
