Judgments in the espionage process: fines for Tyrolean couple

Judgments in the espionage process: fines for Tyrolean couple

An exciting process at the Innsbruck regional court ended on Wednesday with a judgment in the case of a couple of Turkish descent that lives in Tyrol. The two were guilty of passing on information to the Turkish secret service. A third defendant who is known as a former chairman of a Turkish association based in Kufstein was acquitted by all allegations.

The court found that the couple had contributed to sending information about other Turkish citizens living in Austria, which is regarded as a serious violation of the Austrian intelligence law. In particular, the couple is said to have forwarded a stressful video to the secret service, which shows a confidential admission of a religious teacher.

The judgments in detail

While the wife, 42 years old, was opposed to an additional indictment that included a list of names of system -critical people, the main accusation points against the couple were ultimately punished with fines. The decisions of the jury court punished the woman with a fine of 3,240 euros, while her husband has to pay 2,700 euros. In the run -up to the trial, all three defendants had pleaded for "not guilty" and if possible, they threatened up to ten years in prison.

The court rated the fines as necessary and in this context mentioned the general preventive function of such punishments in order to create a strong deterrent effect. The judge made it clear that the couple from the accusation of tradition of information to a foreign power that said they had lured men to Turkey.

The couple's defenders were surprised by the decisions of the court and made no further explanations of the judgments. However, the judgments are not yet final, which means that an appeal is possible. The background of the case are complex and offer a lot of space for discussions about the role of Turkish secret services in Europe and the legal consequences for those affected.

For further information on the events and the process course, the current reporting on tirol.orf are referred.