The Ukrainian research platform “Bihus.Info” uncovers cases of corruption. Now a video has emerged with editorial members secretly filmed. President Zelensky has intervened.
The video, which has sparked a storm of outrage in Ukraine, is five minutes and nine seconds long. In the pictures, several members of the well-known investigative research platform “Bihus.Info” can be seen at a meeting in a hotel at the end of December. The scenes were apparently secretly filmed using hidden cameras and allegedly show some of the employees using drugs. The video was published by the YouTube channel “Narodna Pravda”. Translated, the name means “people’s truth”. The video has now been deleted.
In other excerpts from the video, telephone conversations between editorial members are played in which they discuss drugs such as MDMA or marijuana. The editorial director, Denys Bihus, confirmed that they were cameramen from the editorial team. Some of the colleagues have now been laid off, said Bihus. Drug tests were also ordered within the editorial team. According to his information, the editorial office must have been bugged over a longer period of more than a year.
Denys Bihus, founder of the “Bihus.Info” portal, confirms that the video shows editorial members – some of whom have since been fired.
Bihus senses an organized spying operation
In Ukraine, “Bihus.Info” is best known for its investigative research into cases of corruption and nepotism in administration, institutions and authorities. According to Bihus, the platform is supported by, among others, the EU Commission and various European journalist networks. The Bihus channel reaches around one million subscribers on YouTube.
For editorial director Denys Bihus, the upload of the video is part of a discrediting campaign. The platform has been publishing investigative anti-corruption research for ten years, says Bihus: “All those who have or had power don’t particularly like us” – there are many of them. With regard to the traditional tension between the media and authorities in Ukraine, the incident is another low point: “A new level has been reached,” says Bihus.
When asked what could be behind the video and the espionage attacks, Bihus replied: At the moment it “obviously makes sense to talk about acting authorities.” However, with around ten investigative publications per month on a wide variety of actors, it is difficult to name specific people and bodies as suspects.
The research platform itself is also investigating the incident. According to Bihus research, more than 30 people were involved in installing cameras in “a dozen” hotel rooms. For Denys Bihus, this is an indication that it was a “planned, organized” action.
Ukrainian secret service is investigating
The Ukrainian secret service SBU has now started investigating the case. This particularly concerns the allegedly illegal wiretapping methods. In addition, “Bihus.Info” has filed a criminal complaint with the police.
The explosiveness of the case is also reflected in the political reactions. The Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, dealt with the case and condemned the invasion of journalists’ privacy with a broad majority. And even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj commented on the “surveillance of journalists” one day after the video appeared in mid-January. He said that “any pressure on journalists is unacceptable” and announced that the Ukrainian secret service would clarify the circumstances.
For Denys Bihus, the editorial director of the investigative platform, Zelensky’s statements and the police and secret service investigations are “pretty atypical.” At the same time, he has little hope in this form of investigation: “How likely is it that a structure will conduct an effective investigation if employees of this or a neighboring structure have committed something?” he asks. Experience has shown that such investigations “usually end with nothing,” said Bihus: “Some time passes, everyone forgets, life goes on.”