Espionage affair

First indictment against Ott and ex-FPÖ man Jenewein

Egisto Ott is the focus of several lines of investigation. The first criminal proceedings are now underway.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, youtube.com, Krone KREATIV)

The Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office has filed a first criminal complaint against former Blue Party member Hans-Jörg Jenewein and former secret service agent Egisto Ott, who is suspected of espionage, for violation of official secrecy. Further investigations into the case are ongoing.

In November 2018, Ott is said to have commissioned an unknown official as a BMI official on behalf of Jenewein to obtain information on participants in a meeting of European intelligence and secret services, whereby the main interest was to find out which employees of the then secret service BVT were attending. In addition to this suspected criminal offense, Jenewein is accused of passing on confidential documents to which he had access in the Ibiza U Committee in June 2021 and of taking photos of persons providing information and sending them to third parties.

National security at risk?
Ott, who is suspected of spying for Russia, is also alleged to have passed on the names of BVT employees to FPÖ politician Jenewein in May 2019, thereby jeopardizing the maintenance of public national security and the success of future intelligence activities. There had also been a breach of data protection.

Ibiza connection too
In July 2019, Ott is also alleged to have asked a police officer to collect the names of the officers investigating the "Ibiza" case. The penalty is up to three years in prison.

"Extremely complex case"
The Vienna public prosecutor's office is investigating the "extremely extensive Ott case" in several lines of inquiry. The other proceedings will continue in parallel with the upcoming main trial.

Jenewein and Ott are presumed innocent.