Egisto Ott in court

Espionage case: “From state protector to threat”

The public prosecutor brought out the heavy artillery on Friday at the Vienna Regional Court in the trial against Egisto Ot and Hans-Jörg Jenewein - Ott is a "threat to state organizations".

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

Former ex-BVT chief inspector Egisto Ott is alleged to have passed on secret data and endangered an undercover investigator. The defense speaks of a "politically motivated accusation". Ex-FPÖ politician Hans-Jörg Jenewein is also in the spotlight. The trial began on Friday with a huge media rush - and a curious scene.

The Viennese senate of lay judges is dealing with three criminal applications and an indictment against ex-BVT chief inspector Ott and ex-FPÖ MP Jenewein as well as two other defendants. The public prosecutor made serious accusations: Ott had developed "from a state protector to a threat to state organizations", the prosecutor noted. Ott had endangered "police colleagues" and in particular had even "endangered the life" of an undercover investigator from the Federal Criminal Police Office by passing on personal data - his date of birth and police background - to third parties, according to the prosecutor.

The credibility of Austrian secret service authorities had also been jeopardized, as had cooperation with foreign intelligence services. Ott had undermined "the trust of the Austrian population in the institutions and officials" with his actions. As the motivation behind Ott's criminally relevant actions, the public prosecutor referred to the first suspension of the ex-BVT chief inspector, who had been "deported to the security academy, to the police school", as a result of allegations against Ott. This had "stirred up hatred and anger towards the BVT" in Ott.

Ott's defense attorney identifies politically motivated accusation
In response, one of Ott's two defense lawyers, the Viennese lawyer Joseph Phillip Bischof, countered that Ott "was and is a state protector and not a danger to life". As a police officer, Ott had "contributed significantly to the investigation of the letter bomb series" and had helped to free Austrian hostages abroad, Bischof said in defense of the accused. In unusually strong words, Bischof castigated the long duration of the investigation in the direction of the public prosecutor's office: "If I shit my hat for seven to eight years, I am rightly out of the picture as a defense lawyer."

Bischof and the second defense lawyer Jürgen Stephan Mertens not only locate the guiltlessness of 62-year-old Egisto Ott, but rather his loyalty and conscientiousness towards his office. Ott was not "driven by hatred", but was "a critic", as Bischof noted. He was "a massive pain in the neck in the BVT because he criticized so much." 

The defense lawyers accuse the prosecutors of having a political motive: According to Mertens, Ott belonged to the SPÖ and was "unpleasant" due to his criticism of the BVT. He was then charged for political reasons, and the Ministry of the Interior, which was "colored by the ÖVP", had covered him with a plethora of accusations. He had not passed on any official secrets. Some of the information had "even appeared in the official gazette", Mertens noted.

Jenewein at the center of the proceedings for the public prosecutor
Instead, the public prosecutor sees the real culprit in Jenewein, who was a member of the National Council for the FPÖ from 2017 to 2019. Under Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ), there was a controversial house search at the BVT on February 28, 2018, which was later declared unlawful. Jenewein had wanted to "justify the house search at the BVT in public opinion" and "discredit the management level of the BVT". This was proven by "over 100 pages of chat logs", said the public prosecutor. To this end, he had Ott and the third defendant, a former member of Kickl's cabinet, provide him with information about BVT officials and their contacts. The public prosecutor literally described Ott and the 53-year-old woman as Jenewein's "suppliers".

According to the indictment, there was "cooperation" between Ott and Jenewein from August 2018. Jenewein, who was a member of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT) and briefly acted as FPÖ security spokesman, is said to have received information from Ott about a meeting of the "Bern Club" - a meeting of the secret service directors of all EU states, Switzerland and Norway. Ott, who was already suspended from duty at the time, is said to have sent the politician a list with the names of the BVT officials who attended the meeting.

Jenewein is also said to have instructed Ott to obtain information about the composition of "Soko Tape" - a special commission set up after the publication of the Ibiza video to clarify criminal law issues. In addition, the ex-politician is said to have forwarded the so-called Pilnacek chats as well as illegally taking photos in the investigative committee and sending them to Ott.

Jenewein's defense lawyer invokes immunity
Jenewein's defense lawyer Christoph Rother rejected the accusations and emphasized that his client already knew the names of the BVT officials involved. As leader of the parliamentary group in the U-Committee, Jenewein had taken an interest in abuses at the BVT and had only initiated a brief inquiry without violating official secrets. Rother also argued that Jenewein continued to enjoy parliamentary immunity despite his resignation from the National Council. He referred to the Information Regulation Act, according to which only the disclosure of information of classification levels three or four is punishable - in this case, however, levels one and two are at issue. "The charge lacks a legal basis," said Rother. In the worst case scenario, Jenewein could have been fined or called to order in parliament.

One indictment and three criminal charges
Three criminal charges and one indictment are the subject of the trial. In addition to a former employee of Herbert Kickl, a German acquaintance of Ott's has also been charged. Both pleaded "not guilty". They are accused of abuse of office, violation of official secrets and breaches of data protection regulations.

From October 2018 to May 2019, Jenewein allegedly instructed Kickl's employee to provide him with reports on participants in two meetings of European intelligence services. In June 2020, Ott allegedly passed on confidential information to his German acquaintance. The co-defendant, formerly a source for the BVT and now working in private personal protection, described the allegations as "completely absurd". He was "not guilty".

As expected, the trial began with great media interest. When a journalist photographed Ott in the courtroom, he reacted by "photographing back". The journalist asked him to refrain from doing so, as it was unclear whether the photo would be passed on. Ott put the cell phone away, but replied that the journalist was a person of public interest, to which the journalist replied that there were "others, investigators" there too.

The trial will continue next Monday with three witness hearings. The former head of the BVT Peter Gridling, a BVT official and a representative of the DSN have been invited. Another witness has fallen ill and will therefore be absent. Further hearing dates have not yet been scheduled. It seems rather unlikely that the main hearing will be concluded on Monday.