Two Austrian Policemen Detained For Spying For Kazakhstan
RFE/RL, Austrian Times, 18.02.2009
 The prosecutor's office in Vienna has confirmed that two Austrian policemen have been arrested for allegedly spying for Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Austrian media reported that the two officers were gathering information from a computer about Rakhat Aliev -- the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev -- who has been living in self-imposed exile in Austria since 2007.
Last month an Austrian policeman faced similar charges and was found guilty.
Aliev, the former Kazakh ambassador to Austria and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was tried by Kazakhstan in absentia last year and found guilty of kidnapping, torture, and extortion. He says the charges are politically motivated.
Austria has refused to extradite Aliev to Kazakhstan.
RFE/RL
Policemen busted for spying for Kazakhstan
Two Lower Austrian policemen have been suspended from duty and arrested for spying for the Kazakhstan secret service.
Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia today (Tues) confirmed the news as reported by the weekly magazine "Falter." He said the two policemen had been working in Lower Austria but declined to identify the location.
Falter reported the arrests were linked to former Kazakh Ambassador to Austria Rakhat Alijev, the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nasarbajev. Austria rejected a Kazakh government request for the extradition of Alijev, who is wanted in Kazakhstan for alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a banker.
The Kazakh secret service then tried to kidnap Alijev in Austria, according to Falter, and paid one of the arrested policemen for information from the EKIS police computer.
The arrests occurred after a search of the two policemen’s residences last week. One of them had reportedly worked in the interior ministry’s office of internal affairs in 2006, and one of them had already been suspended at the time of his arrest, according to the magazine.
The case is not the first involving spying for Kazakhstan. An Austrian policeman was convicted last month for doing so, Gollia said.
Austrian Times |
