Dutch want 15 years for alleged spy for Russia

Dutch prosecutors on Tuesday asked for a 15-year jail term for a former diplomat for allegedly selling NATO military secrets to Moscow.

Identified only as Raymond P., 61, the consular worker was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport a year ago as he was about to board a plane to Bangkok, the public prosecutor’s office said.

“The man is suspected of handing over state secrets to Russia on Russian orders, preparing state secrets, corruption, money laundering and owning a firearm,” the prosecutors said in a statement.

“The suspect for instance handed over political and military information about NATO and the European Union and also sensitive information about his colleagues,” they said.

At the time of his arrest, law enforcement officials found four USB sticks containing sensitive information in an eyeglass case.

“It was striking that he booked a flight through Vienna as opposed to taking a much cheaper flight straight to Bangkok. He presumably had an appointment in Vienna where he wanted to hand over the USB sticks,” prosecutors said.

The spotlight fell on the Dutch suspect after German police earlier raided the home of a married Russian couple living in the central city of Marburg.

The pair, identified only by their codenames Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, are accused of having been planted in West Germany from 1988 by the Soviet Union’s KGB and later used by its successor secret service, the SVR.

They are currently on trial in Stuttgart and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of espionage.

“Through the digital clues they (the couple) left behind, German authorities told the Dutch, who launched a probe,” the prosecutors said.

They believe the suspect — identified as Raymond Valentino Poeteray in the German case — has been handing confidential information to the couple since September 2008 under the codename “BR”.

German domestic intelligence services in turn were tipped off about the couple after the FBI uncovered a Russian spy ring which included the highly publicised case of glamorous spy suspect Anna Chapman, who was deported from the United States in 2010.

In return for his alleged spying activities, Raymond P. received more than 72,000 euros ($92,000), prosecutors added.

Raymond P. has declined to answer to the charges and his lawyer said he only wanted to help the couple find a home in the scenic southern province of Zeeland.

Prosecutors however dismissed the claim.

“The man has possibly brought the lives of others into danger. Therefore a long jail sentence would be fitting,” they said.