An employee of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN) has been suspended after being exposed as a suspected spy for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood—an organization which is considered anti-constitutional in Austria.
The man—temporarily assigned to the agency—allegedly passed on secret information, including details about ongoing terrorism investigations, to individuals within the radical organization.
Investigators had been monitoring the employee for weeks. Following a meeting with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, authorities acted on the evidence, suspending him immediately. According to security sources, the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office is preparing charges related to intelligence activities detrimental to the Republic of Austria. The employee’s home was searched, and he was taken into custody, questioned, and formally reported.
The suspected leak represents a major blow to the DSN, particularly given the current high threat level from Islamist networks. Profil reports that the employee may have informed targets of the investigations themselves, potentially sabotaging ongoing work against extremist cells.
A spokesperson for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution emphasized that the case is isolated. According to the DSN
The internal control mechanisms are functioning and were effective in this case.
