Secret Services (3): The "chief spy" who came from the party

Six months have passed since the police and prosecutor's office targeted the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT). Unannounced and armed with a search warrant. That's how police officers and lawyers marched into the Rennweg Barracks in the third district of Vienna on February 28, where the constitutional protection authorities are located. Six offices were targeted, along with four private residences of employees. ADDENDUM about the conflict surrounding the Austrian domestic intelligence service.

What has happened since then? By now, the house searches, with one exception, have been declared illegal. According to the Economic and Corruption Prosecution Office (WKStA), ten people in the BVT case are classified as accused or reported, more than 40 people have been interviewed, and six investigators are working closely with the prosecution.

The major scandal has not been uncovered so far. Three out of four suspensions have been lifted. The officers are now allowed to return to work, even though the criminal investigations are not yet concluded.

Weak personnel, political networks

Speaking with people who have detailed insights behind the scenes provides a differentiated view of the events in the intelligence service. There is talk of frequently unqualified personnel and political networks. And of things that would need improvement.

How can such claims be substantiated? Insiders provide examples to support them.

For instance, there's Bernhard P., the former head of counter-espionage, who was dismissed at the end of May. And could only be dismissed because he was a contracted employee, not a civil servant like other suspects in the BVT affair. In a complaint to the prosecutor's office, the Lower Austrian reveals that he considers himself a "scapegoat" in the BVT case. He is suspected of passing North Korean blank passports to South Korea and obtaining data that should have been deleted. The suspect denies having done anything illegal.

Top-Secret Documents Among Advertisements

The man lost his job because the police found classified documents at his home during the raid on February 28. The employer sees this as a violation of the "secrecy protection order" and the "information security law."

The 45-year-old counters that he had to work from home repeatedly to be able to handle everything. He also had been on sick leave to take care of his sick children. The prosecutor noted in a memo on February 28:

"The head of the Department for Intelligence Services and Proliferation stacked top-secret documents between advertisements and medical reports."

"This is the first time someone is accused of working from home," said the suspect's lawyer. And argues that it should not be surprising if the intelligence service chief works with classified documents. The determination of the levels of confidentiality was primarily the responsibility of his client, the department head.

Documents Related to Lansky

Documents related to the Lansky case were also seized in Bernhard P.'s office. The BVT had investigated the SPÖ-affiliated Viennese lawyer Lansky, who claimed that confidential documents from his law firm had not been destroyed despite a court order. The seizure protocol from the unauthorized house search of department head Bernhard P., upheld by the Higher Regional Court (OLG), states: "1 x folder with various documents relating, inter alia, to LANSKY Description white folder, BMI, 1 x document with 4 pages relating to LANSKY, 1 x green folder with various documents relating to LANSKY..."

Bernhard P.'s lawyer explains that there was never an obligation to delete or destroy the documents from a correct legal assessment.

ÖVP security spokesperson Werner Amon gives an impeccable testimony to the man, whom he has known well for many years, and reprimands the interior ministry. In a conversation with the Tiroler Tageszeitung, the member of the National Council said that he believes "the dismissal of the counter-espionage chief to be a unique event that causes head-shaking internationally among intelligence services."

Also, Profil views the dismissal critically: "The former head of department is well-connected in the international spy community, his removal will hardly alleviate the concerns of foreign services about the events in Austria."

Only 30 Employees in the Department

Now, the legal representative of the dismissed department head points out that his client led an operational department as a manager for eight years, whose area of responsibility ranged from economic and cyber espionage to uncovering violations of sanctions. Addendum's research at BVT also revealed that the Department of Intelligence Services was by no means adequately staffed given the abundance of tasks - only about 30 out of 300 BVT employees were active in P.'s department, the traditional intelligence area.

Candidate for the EU Elections

Several BVT employees, with whom Addendum spoke, also paint the picture of a political liaison officer and are not surprised that the ÖVP is coming out to defend the former manager. There are, of course, also SPÖ and FPÖ-affiliated personnel in the BVT, but P. apparently had an especially close connection to the party, too close, according to former colleagues. He, who was once employed in the People's Party parliamentary club, was heavily involved in the Young ÖVP in his younger years and even ran twice for the ÖVP in the EU elections. Due to his party preference, P., who in 2010 rose to become the frontman in intelligence service, one of the central departments in the intelligence service, was internally referred to as the "political commissar."

In response, P.'s lawyer argues that a manager naturally does not make only friends internally. As for the allegation that his client, a doctor of political science, did not have a police training or a law degree, it is irrelevant: It is already standard internationally that especially in intelligence services interdisciplinary personnel are recruited.

"Choleric" and "Uncoordinated"

A woman who worked in the intelligence department for two years described her former boss during her interrogation as "choleric," "uncoordinated," and "unstable," which he vehemently denies. Ironically, she, who had a close connection to the ÖVP when she joined the BVT, is one of the four main incriminating witnesses against Bernhard P. She had also benefited from her political connections. So, does the saying "friend, enemy, party friend?" hold true?

The Daughter of the ÖVP State Council

Ria-Ursula Peterlik, the daughter of the former ÖVP state councilor Ernest Gabmann and wife of the diplomat Johannes Peterlik, who is now secretary general at the Foreign Ministry under the FPÖ-nominated Karin Kneissl, made a detour to the BVT from September 2015. The industrial psychologist, who lived with her husband for ten years in Vietnam and Thailand, was assigned to the domestic rotation phase of her husband's work in the Asia group in the intelligence service department. Two years later, she left the institution. Peterlik has since reported, among other things, that her superiors not only had an occasionally excessive alcohol consumption but also openly discussed secret operations in nightclubs. The parties involved vehemently deny these allegations.

In recent years, there have been many contracted employees who were politically active professionally and later joined the BVT. One of them was Stephan Tauschitz.

The ÖVP Parliamentary Club Leader from Carinthia

During the Hypo turmoil, the Carinthian Tauschitz had to step down as the VP parliamentary club leader. He was a follower of the fallen Carinthian VP chief Josef Martinz, who was later sentenced to several years in prison in the Birnbacher affair. In 2004, at the age of 25, Tauschitz was the youngest member of the state parliament. Three years later, he became the club leader. However, in August 2012, his steep political career came to an end. The new party leader at the time, Gabriel Obernosterer, replaced the old guard, including young Tauschitz. The incident was not too harsh though: Tauschitz was able to remain in the state parliament at least until March 2013.

There was great surprise in the BVT when the business administrator suddenly appeared at the police authority. The question also arises with this job assignment whether the BVT needed Tauschitz - or Tauschitz needed the job at the BVT. However, the position served as a stepping stone for him. Last year, the now 40-year-old landed a top job in the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism in Carinthia. Without prior employment at the BVT, he would have lacked any qualifications for the role of the department head for analysis, evaluation, and prevention.

Such appointments were only possible because the staffing level at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism rose dramatically. Initially, 130 people worked at the BVT, today there are about 300, who serve in the barracks at Rennweg, among other locations.

For now. Soon, the BVT is to undergo a fundamental reform.

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Addendum Article Series BVT:

Introduction on SPARTANAT: BVT in Austria: How broken was the intelligence service?

Part 1: The BVT - a flawed construction?

Part 2: Austrian agent with an agenda

Part 3: The "chief spy" who came from the party

Part 4: Agent Gridling - the other BVT affair

More to come ...

This article was first published on ADDENDUM. Copyright Text & Image: ADDENDUM.

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