Spouses with Russian passports in Australia are accused of attempted espionage, France Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The two spouses are suspected of trying to reveal confidential information to Moscow, Australian police said.
The 40-year-old woman and her 62-year-old husband, both Australian citizens and holders of Russian passports, have been charged with "preparing an espionage offence,", Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told a news conference. This charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The couple were arrested yesterday at their home in Brisbane. The woman was a serviceman in the Australian Army and worked for several years as an "information systems technician" in the defense forces, the police spokesman said. During her stay in Russia, she allegedly explained to her husband how to hack into her work account from their home. Thus, the husband gained access to certain documents and sent them to his wife in Russia. It is suspected that the couple wanted to pass the confidential information to the Russian authorities, but it is not known if the transfer took place.
The woman received Australian citizenship in 2016 and the man in 2020
The Austrian branch of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), based in the Vienna district of Floridsdorf, is suspected of supplying Kim Jong-un's regime in North Korea with foreign currency, the Austrian news agency APA reported today, quoted by BTA.
"This federation is a vehicle for cultural diplomacy through which influence can be exerted without attracting much attention. "It is discreetly located on the outskirts of Vienna and also offers the possibility of believable travel concealment," historian and espionage expert Thomas Rigler told the Presse daily today. ("Presse").
According to an ITF spokesperson, the organization distinguishes sports from politics, although ITF president Ri Yong-son has held key positions in the North Korean regime, and his wife is a high-ranking agent, "Presse" reports. Ri is no longer on the territory of Austria, but the organization remains.
The UN suggests that North Korea is using the ITF to supply foreign currency to finance its nuclear weapons program. One of the federation's officials is said to have illegally traded weapons, gold and rhino horns, with the money then being sent to Pyongyang, APA said.
The main tasks of North Korean intelligence agents are to gather components and knowledge to develop nuclear weapons, and the many international organizations in the capital, as well as the weak Austrian counterintelligence, create good conditions for the unhindered activity of the North Koreans, Rigler points out.
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