A Russian military intelligence agent who pretended to be a Brazilian trainee was arrested by Dutch services in April.
by
Viktor Muller Ferreira, born in April 1989 in Brazil, should have joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an intern in April. But, identified by the Dutch secret services when he arrived at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, the spy trainee, who was traveling under a false identity, was returned to Brazil by the first plane. He was arrested upon his return by the Brazilian police, then imprisoned pending a trial.
his real name Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, this 36-year-old Russian would have created his own legend in mid-2010, explains the General Dutch Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) in a statement. That of a Brazilian from a poor family, in delicacy with his parents and wishing to follow studies of journalism. He was to start a “six -month trial period at the International Criminal Court as a junior analyst in the preliminary exams section,” the Brazilian authorities explained. Its note of intent, written in Portuguese, and its translation are attached to the statement of Dutch services. It would include several spelling mistakes. “Because they [under legendary agents] present themselves as foreigners, they have access to a lot of information that would not be accessible to Russians, explains the AIVD. The main object of the GRU [the Russian military intelligence direction] is military intelligence, but it also collects information of a political or technological nature. “
influences on procedures
“The construction of this type of coverage generally takes years”, underlines the AIVD, which considers the episode as a “potentially very high threat”. If he had managed to join the ICC as an intern, “he would have had the ability to bring together intelligence and seek (or recruit) sources, and arrange to have access to the electronic CPI system”, estimates the Dutch information, adding that “he could also have the ability to influence the CPI criminal procedures”. By destroying or manipulating evidence, or even identifying potential witnesses.
On March 2, the CPI attorney general, Karim Khan, announced the opening of an investigation into crimes committed in Ukraine since 2014. The ICC has been investigating since 2016 in the summer of 2008 who had opposed Russia and Georgia on the territory of the secessionist province of Southern Ossetia. Eight days after having opened his investigation into Ukraine, Mr. Khan asked the judges to issue arrest mandates against two Russian officials and a Georgian Prorusse, for war crimes, in a “similar” context to Ukraine events , he had stressed, when he was announced.
You have 17.42% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.