In Austria showed one accused of spying on Russia. This time he was an employee of counterintelligence, the transfer to Moscow of secret documents, according to RBC with reference to the newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
Photo: Reuters
According to the newspaper, under suspicion is an employee of the Federal office for the protection of Constitution and fighting terrorism (BVT) were more than a year ago. All this time his attitude was under investigation. Unlike other Russian spy, employee BVT had access to secret documents and passed them to their supervisors in Moscow.
Employee espionage is accused of divulging state secrets. The penalty for this can serve a sentence of up to ten years.
As previously reported, the Austrian authorities on 9 November said that the conduct of the investigation against 70-year-old retired Colonel of the Austrian army . The Ministry of defence of Austria suspects him in the transfer over the past 20 years the Russian military intelligence information about the Austrian military aircraft, artillery systems, policymakers and the migration crisis. The Prosecutor’s office checks these allegations of the crimes of divulging state secrets. In the case of confirmation of suspicions, accused the military pensioners could face up to 10 years in prison.
Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz said on the unacceptability of Russian espionage in Europe. The Minister for foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl canceled scheduled for 2-3 December visit to Russia and warned that if confirmation of the fact of espionage relations between the two countries can be complicated.
The Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he was unpleasantly surprised by the absence from Vienna of any request for clarification which arose from the Austrian authorities ‘ suspicions. The Russian foreign Ministry protested to the Austrian Ambassador Johannes Aigner.