Agentura.Ru / Covering the secret services and terrorism issues in Russia Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan, Agentura.ru, Novaya Gazeta Russia

Agentura.Ru / What Agentura.Ru is Internet-project, started in 2000 by community of journalists covering the secret services’ activity Intention – public oversight Example – the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Secrecy project Why FAS experience cannot be engaged in Russia Agentura.Ru technology: To collect and systematize open sources / documents, articles To publish our own investigations with cooperation with other media: Izvestia, Versiya, Moscow News, Ejednevny Journal, Novaya Gazeta

Agentura.Ru / The main problems are focused: In information gathering In getting comments In preparing stories for Russian media In ethic area - when the war with terrorists shifted to the low-intensity conflict In the Secret services’ response to publications Environment / Inside Media

Agentura.Ru / In information gathering: There are four main Secret services in Russia: Federal Security Service (FSB) – in charge of counterintelligence and counterterrorism, Federal Protection Service (FSO) – in charge of personal protection of President and Government officials GRU (Military intelligence) SVR (Foreign Intelligence) Press-offices: GRU has no press-office FSO limits itself to responding only the demands for picturing inside Kremlin SVR –limits itself to commenting Cold War stories (before 1961) FSB strategy: 1.No response to media requests even under threat of legal prosecution 2.Cancel the practice to have journalists briefed by the Secret Services. FSB found it’s better to have generals openly posted to the media.

Agentura.Ru / Example: FSB informant story In January 2008 Russian citizen Novikov fled to Denmark came in office of Danish Broadcasting Corp. claiming he was FSB agent sent to opposition party United Civil Front. Danish colleagues asked us for help. How to check this information? Novikov’s “debriefing” Checking inside FSB before publication Getting confirmation after publication

Agentura.Ru / Getting comments Interviews given by the Secret Services’ heads: In : Patrushev (FSB) – 6 (Argumenti i Facti and Rossiyskaya Gazeta) + 1 film on RTR, Lebedev (SVR) - 0, Murov (FSO) - 0, Korabelnikov (GRU) – 0 In fall 2007–spring 2008 we got new heads of SVR and FSB: 0 interviews. Our experience: interview in presence of 10 advisers The lack of former FSB/SVR/GRU officers willing to comment openly the secret services’ activity Result: We have to use former KGB officers, who lost their touch with the ground over twenty years ago. The lack of security expert community Despite the West, the war on terror in Russia didn’t become the reason to establish the think tanks devoted to Security issues. Russian authorities were never interested in independent expertise.

Agentura.Ru / Preparing stories for Russian media the law limits: It is forbidden to publish interview with terrorist, it’s forbidden even to mention the name of terrorist or extremist organisation without special words. There are limits to get access to the region of the North Caucasus – the system of accreditations There are limits to get access to the area of counterterrorist operation – it might be comparable with Israeli practice to use “closed military areas” Attempts to introduce the special courses for journalists called “Bastion”, and not to allow the access to the area of counterterrorist operation to the journalists who did not frequent these courses.

Agentura.Ru / When the war with terrorists shifted to the low-intensity conflict: ethic problems Siege of Nalchik in 2005 – when devoted Muslims become terrorists Media coverage before attack The problem of definition after the attacks Hizb-ut-Tahrir – how to cover the activity of the prohibited party never used violence in Russia

Agentura.Ru / The secret services’ response to publications: possible legal actions Accusations of information sponsorship of terrorism – the consequences for paper Accusations of extremism – usual methods for local authorities against journalists –Our experience: Nalchik Accusations of revealing of state secrets Our experience: –2002. Consequences of reportage about Nord-Ost’s siege –2008. Consequences of interview with Tretyakov, former Russian intelligence colonel defected to US

Agentura.Ru / Plot to reveal State Secrets (FSB favourite version) 1.Journalist looks for a secret owner in the Secret Services 2.He promises the officer to share the fee, thus forming criminal group 3.Journalist published story, got fee and shared it with the traitor 4.There are three evidences of crime: the criminal intention – to get the fee, the structure - criminal group, and the type of crime – revealing of secret State secret owner Newspaper / The fee Journalist

Agentura.Ru / Environment / To investigate and live in the same country: The legacy of Cold War: related level of secrecy higher than in the West and the huge number of former KGB/FSB officers in business and government structures. In some crucial points Russian secret services are comparable not with old KGB, but with some Mideast secret services – corruptive, brutal with terrorism suspects, and active with preventing so-called subversion. Sometimes journalist’s activity might be considered to be subversive. Covering the Secret Services’ activity is in decline. Few journalists who covered the First war and Second war in Chechnya keep working.