A Russian-born Australian couple have become the first ever people in the country to be charged under Australia’s newer and stricter espionage laws. So what was the couple trying to do, and what is going to happen to them next?
In a statement to the press today, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed that it arrested 40-year-old Kira Korolev and her 62-year-old husband Igor Korolev in their Brisbane home on Thursday morning.
It is alleged that the couple, who had been living in Australia for over a decade and became citizens several years ago, were attempting to send sensitive ADF information to Russian authorities.
The AFP made the accusation today in the Brisbane Magistrates Court that Kira, who worked in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), took a secret trip to Russia. While there she allegedly helped her husband access private ADF information from her work account, and had instructed him to send it to her in Moscow.
Police alleged that the couple intended to give the information to Russian spies, however, if they were successful in this task has not been disclosed.
Both Kira and Igor Korolev could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of new offences that were created by the National Security Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) boss Mike Burgess warned that Australia “cannot be complacent” when it comes to taking preventative measures against espionage offences, and international spies.
“Espionage is not some quaint notion, espionage damages our economy and degrades our strategic advantage. It has catastrophic real-world consequences,” he warned.
“Foreign intelligence services are capable, determined, and patient. They play the long game. The problem for them is ASIO does too.”
Every time one of these spy stories makes it big in Australia, I am suddenly reminded of how boring and unsexy real-world espionage is, as opposed to what we see go down in films like James Bond or Kingsmen.
It’s like the time when Burgess told everyone there was a spy in the Federal Parliament giving Australian secrets to a foreign party, but then nothing happened. Just a press announcement and that was all we heard.
Where is all the cool spying? Where are the parkour action sequences?
[Image: Supplied]
The post Brisbane Couple Charged With Espionage After Allegedly Trying To Send ADF Secrets To Russia appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
