| Slovak Information Servise | |
|---|---|
| Slovenská informačná služba | |
| (SIS) | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 21 January 1993 |
| Preceding agency | (Czechoslovak) Federal Security Information Service |
| Jurisdiction | territory of the Slovak republic |
| Headquarters | Vajnorská Street 39, Bratislava |
| Annual budget | 38 946 000 € (2011)[1] |
| Minister responsible | Government of Slovakia |
| Agency executive | Karol Mitrík, Director |
| Parent agency | none |
| Website | |
| SIS website | |
Slovenská informačná služba (English: Slovak Information Service, SIS) is an intelligence agency of the government of Slovakia.
Contents |
Slovenská informačná služba was established on January 21, 1993 as a descendant of the Federálna bezpečnostná informačná služba FBIS (the intelligence agency of Czechoslovakia). Its first director was Vladimír Mitro, who two years later asked the President of Slovakia to accept his resignation. Mitro later claimed that the reason for this was huge political pressure on him, especially the command to establish surveillance of certain journalists.
The government of Vladimír Mečiar then changed the law to give the permission to name the SIS director to itself, rather than the President of Slovakia.[2] Mečiar then named Ivan Lexa the director of SIS. Under Lexa, SIS became internationally known for numerous controversies including the kidnapping of President's son to Austria and his light torture in 1995, the Assassination of Róbert Remiáš in 1996 and many more.
The Slovak Information Service, as with similar agencies in other countries, serves the following purposes:
SIS also handles tasks usually reserved for the police force:
Moreover, SIS is supposed to protect civil rights in Slovakia.