Austrian ex-intelligence officer found guilty of Russia spying charges

Austrian ex-intelligence officer found guilty of Russia spying charges35 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleBethany BellVienna correspondentReutersThe spy scandal has revived fears that Austria remains a hotbed of Russian espionage activityFormer intelligence official Egisto Ott has been found guilty of spying for Russia, in what has been dubbed Austria's biggest spy trial in years.A jury in Vienna found Ott, 63, guilty of having handed over information to Russian intelligence officers and to Jan Marsalek, the fugitive executive of collapsed German payments firm Wirecard.Ott, who denies the charges, was sentenced to four years and one month in prison. His lawyer has appealed against the verdict.The spy scandal has revived fears that Austria remains a hotbed of Russian espionage activity.In addition to spying, Ott was found guilty of misuse of office, bribery, aggravated fraud and breach of trust.The court heard how he had supported "a secret intelligence service of the Russian Federation to the detriment of the Republic of Austria" by collecting secret facts and a large amount of personal data from police databases from 2015 to 2020.Prosecutors said Ott gave this information to Marsalek and unknown representatives of the Russian intelligence service, and received payment in return.Marsalek, who is also an Austrian citizen, is wanted by German police for alleged fraud and is currently believed to be in the Russian capital, Moscow, having fled via Austria in 2020.Alleged to be a Russian intelligence asset, Marsalek is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice and, as such, could be arrested if found in the territory of any of the countries belonging to the 196-member international police organisation.Prosecutors told the court that Marsalek commissioned Ott to obtain a laptop containing secret electronic security hardware used by EU states for secure electronic communication. The laptop, they said, was handed over to the Russian intelligence serv...