Three suspected spies of Turkish origin arrested in Austrian Tyrol

Two men and one woman are alleged to have betrayed 800 members of the Gülen movement to the Turkish secret service, according to the "Kurier". However, the public prosecutor's office did not confirm the number.

Source

The three arrested have been under investigation since February.

Three suspected Turkish spies were temporarily arrested in Tyrol as early as 20 June in the course of investigations by the Directorate of State Protection and Intelligence (DSN) and the Provincial Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-terrorism (LVT). They are suspected of having transmitted information on Turkish citizens or Austrian citizens of Turkish origin living in Austria to the Turkish intelligence service, Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT).

Two of the three suspects were subsequently transferred to  Innsbruck prison, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday. The Cobra special task force was also involved in the arrests. After being questioned and examined in custody, the suspects were released. Applications for pre-trial detention were rejected but an appeal against this has since been lodged, a spokeswoman for the Innsbruck Public Prosecutor's Office told the APA. A decision on the matter was still pending.

Data media, mobile telephones and shotguns seized

During house searches at the addresses of the accused, numerous data media, mobile telephones and shotguns were seized. Specifically, investigations are being conducted for the offence of "secret intelligence work to the detriment of Austria". The assumed "modus operandi" of the suspects corresponds to "a known procedure of foreign powers in the control or spying on opposition members and government opponents living abroad", the Ministry said in a statement. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the investigations of the suspects had already begun in February of this year.

First, the "Kurier" reported in its Thursday edition about the alleged espionage case in Tyrol. According to the report, the three suspects, two men and one woman, allegedly betrayed 800 members of the so-called Gülen movement. The public prosecutor's office did not want to confirm the number to APA. Also, the alleged victims were not exclusively members of the Gülen movement.

Interior Minister, Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) spoke in a statement of "meticulous, consistent and precise investigations" that had made an important contribution to the protection of "our fundamental democratic values". "I thank the investigators for their professionalism and commitment," Karner said.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuses the Gülen movement of being responsible for a coup attempt in 2016. The Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gülen, after whom the movement is named, who lives in exile in the US, vehemently denies this.