DSN Officer on Duty Suspended

A "temporarily assigned employee" is suspected of having connections "to a group under observation." These indications are currently being reviewed, the Ministry of the Interior first informed.

DSN Officer Allegedly Queried Data Related to the Muslim Brotherhood

The Vienna Prosecutor's Office specified the allegations upon APA request: the suspect is said to have made queries "without specific official interest and without official cause" on several days in recent months, each "related to the Muslim Brotherhood," said agency spokeswoman Judith Ziska. "Whether the information was passed on is being clarified," Ziska said.

The employee had been working in the DSN for several months and, according to the Ministry of the Interior, "never had access to intelligence information." Internal control mechanisms helped uncover the misconduct: "After thorough observation and evaluation of the irregularities, concrete indications emerged that made a preliminary suspension necessary."

Accused DSN Officer Not Arrested, But Immediate Interrogation Ordered

The accused was not arrested, reported the prosecutor's office spokeswoman: "However, his presentation for immediate interrogation was ordered, which has already taken place." A house search was also conducted on the man, and the secured evidence is now being evaluated as quickly as possible, Ziska reported.

The proceedings now pending with the public prosecutor's office were brought to the attention of the DSN after irregularities involving the police officer were noticed. The internal control mechanisms had taken effect, it was said to the APA. Immediate action was taken and the public prosecutor's office was involved, which initiated the necessary legal steps.

The officer was temporarily assigned to the DSN and was not entrusted with direct intelligence activities. He therefore had no access to particularly sensitive data or information from partner services. His inquiries are said to have only reached "an initial stage," it was said.

Muslim Brotherhood Considered an Islamist Group

The Muslim Brotherhood, to which the accused is said to have connections, is an Islamist group. Founded in Egypt, it now has branches in many countries and is considered very powerful. The structures are informal, and the goal is the Islamization of society. There are moderate currents within the Brotherhood, but the Palestinian terrorist militia Hamas, for example, also emerged from it.

For the FPÖ, the events are the "provisional climax of a series of catastrophic failures." Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) is increasingly revealing himself as a "security policy chaos minister," said the FPÖ security spokesman Gernot Darmann in a statement. He did not see an "isolated case": "There can be no talk of functioning control mechanisms if an extremist can apparently siphon off sensitive data unnoticed over a longer period."

"The fact that the suspect could be unmasked and arrested so quickly is a clear investigative success and shows that the internal control mechanisms of the DSN are working," remarked Green security spokeswoman Agnes-Sirkka Prammer. Nevertheless, the case shows "how large and dangerous the threat of Islamist terror actually is." Prammer therefore called for more resources for the DSN.

(APA/Red)

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