Dutch police have arrested two teenage boys on suspicion of “state interference,” authorities said on Friday, September 26th —in a case with reported links to Russian spying.
Brechtje van de Moosdijk, Spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service said
A judge ordered the two 17-year-olds to remain in custody, one in pre-trial detention, the other under house arrest.
According to an interview with the father of one of the boys, authorities accused his son of walking past the offices of Europol, Eurojust and the Canadian embassy in The Hague with a “wifi sniffer,” a device designed to identify and intercept wi–fi networks.
The father said:
My son isn’t involved in politics at all. I can’t imagine this happening. I know he’s interested in hacking. But we had no idea what he was doing.
The teenager was described as being computer savvy and having a fascination with hackers and their activities, while holding a part-time job at a supermarket.
The arrests occurred amid an increasing number of alleged Russian espionage incidents, including in Austria and Latvia.
