A former Austrian intelligence officer was arrested on charges of spying for Russia, local media reported on Monday.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that the charges against Egisto Ott, a former employee of the now-defunct Federal Agency for State Protection and Counterterrorism (BVT), required careful examination by the judiciary and other state authorities, according to the Austria Press Agency (APA).
We must prevent Russian spy networks from threatening our country by infiltrating or exploiting political parties or networks.
Ott is believed to have forwarded classified information, such as a “strictly confidential memo from the BVT and an inquiry from the FBI,” from his work email address to his personal email address. The data could eventually end up in the possession of the Russian intelligence services.
The Vienna prosecutor’s office claimed that the espionage charges related to “abuse of office” and “detrimental to Austria.” Christina Salzborn, a spokeswoman for the Vienna District Criminal Court, declared that “the reasons for the detention were the risk of collusion and the risk of committing a crime.”
Ott denied all charges against him when questioned by the judge, but did not appeal the detention, so the pretrial detention order was legally enforceable.
