Two Ukrainian men charged with espionage against defence company released in Aalborg
Two young Ukrainians charged with photographing defence company MyDefence in Nørresundby have been released on Friday. Police assess that there is no grounds for pre-trial detention.
Espionage-charged Ukrainians released after three days in custody
Two Ukrainian men aged 18 and 21, charged with espionage against the North Jutland defence company MyDefence, were released on Friday, North Jutland Police reported in a press release. According to B.T., there were no grounds to demand they be held in pre-trial detention.
The men were presented before the court for a constitutional hearing at Aalborg District Court on Tuesday, where the prosecution sought to have them remanded in custody. However, the judge assessed that the suspicion was not sufficiently strong, and the detention was instead extended by three days.
During the intervening period, police have investigated the case with a view to obtaining evidence for a new court appearance with a request for detention.
"On this basis, we maintain the charges, but we simultaneously assess that there is not the necessary grounds for the detainees to be presented again with a request for detention," says police inspector Sune Myrup in the press release.
The two men are charged with having photographed MyDefence in Nørresundby and forwarded the images to a user on the messaging service Telegram. According to the charges, this was intended to have assisted Russian intelligence services in operating within Danish state territory. Both deny guilt.
MyDefence develops technology to combat drones and is therefore part of the Danish defence industry.
The case is being investigated in cooperation with the Danish Police Intelligence Service (PET) and emerged nearly a month after PET warned that Russian intelligence services are actively preparing sabotage operations against Danish defence companies. In September, PET announced that the service had uncovered concrete attempts to recruit Danish citizens to photograph companies and installations, images which according to PET could be used to plan sabotage.
The two charged individuals are accused of violating section 108, subsection 1 of the Criminal Code – also known as the mild espionage provision.
Police inspector Myrup reiterated the warning on Friday about not accepting apparently innocent photo assignments from unknown persons.
"You risk in the worst case scenario helping foreign intelligence services to carry out serious criminal activity which could endanger human lives," said Myrup.
Source: B.T.