BAT process: “I suspect he was simply overwhelmed”

They are accused of having housed a Syrian general in Austria on the basis of a cooperation with the Mossad and having granted him asylum despite the lack of legal requirements. On Wednesday, among other things, the then deputy BVT director out.

At the time, he stood in for the accused and currently unfit ex-head of department Martin W., who was prevented from doing so at short notice, and traveled to Israel on business instead. There he is said to have concluded the cooperation agreement with the Mossad for the purpose of implementing “Operation White Milk”, which the former BVT deputy chief firmly denied in court: “The source that I made this cooperation agreement is Martin W. Das is his storytelling. The question is whether one should question the credibility of Mr W..”

“Climbed the career ladder too quickly”

The witness hardly left a good hair about this: “If I had had three department heads like Martin W., it could have been that I, as an Upper Austrian, would have thrown my nerves.” He said he “maybe climbed the career ladder a little too quickly” and “maybe lost the humility and respect for the responsibility he had.” Martin W. “had taken on too much with his control-affine manner,” said his former superior: “I suspect that he was simply overwhelmed.”

In any case, he hadn’t agreed anything with the Mossad regarding the Syrian general, the witness confirmed: “If he (Martin W., note) is the only one who claims that, then he’s simply wrong.” Nor did he know anything about a BVT meeting in the Ministry of Justice, where allegations of torture against the Syrian officer were discussed for the first time. Martin W. apparently did not inform him about the date, “he had good contacts in the judiciary.” In general, repeated occurrences that Martin W. claimed in memos were not reflected in the BAT, said the then deputy head of the agency: “Of course we didn’t get some things.”

First accused in Dubai

The case against the first accused, Martin W., was eliminated on the first day of the hearing because he was said not to be able to stand trial due to illness. The man is currently in Dubai. Originally, the ex-BVT deputy chief was also investigated on suspicion of abuse of office, but this procedure was discontinued.

“Torture General” hardly answered any questions

The alleged “torture general” testified as a witness in the morning. However, the officer hardly answered any questions, although the court had initially decided at the request of a defense attorney that only the complex of issues relating to the asylum procedure was discussed publicly. The public was excluded from all areas beyond that, since the disclosure of secret service information could endanger public security, as the presiding judge explained.

Regardless of this, the general also left comparatively harmless questions unanswered – such as those as to whether he knew the accused and in what language he had spoken to them. “I don’t want to testify today and ask you to respect that,” the witness said. He said “everything” to the prosecutor: “I don’t want to say anything more today, I’ve already answered all the questions.” He was “afraid for my life and that of my family,” said the general, who appeared at the hearing accompanied by his lawyer Timo Gerersdorfer.

Officer denies torture

The Vienna public prosecutor’s office is investigating the officer, who, according to the indictment, with the active support of the BVT not only received residence status, but also a place to stay and financial resources, for involvement in physical injuries and torture in a prison in Ar-Raqqa in Syria, which he had directed. He is said to have at least known that opponents of the regime were tortured there, which, according to Gerersdorfer, he firmly denies.

The public prosecutor entrusted with this procedure stated as a witness that domestic responsibility for this procedure was “completely clear”, the Vienna public prosecutor’s office has been investigating since May 18, 2016 against the general for torture within the meaning of §312 a StGB. For legal reasons, a possible crime period between the beginning of January and the end of March 2013 is being investigated. He never communicated his legal opinion to the BVT in any other way: “I can’t judge how it was received by the recipient horizon.”

Cooperation for information gathering

During a meeting with a BVT official at the end of 2016, his “non-verbal behavior” gave him the impression “that he knew more about the person (the general, note) than he wanted or was allowed to tell me,” he said Representative of the Vienna Prosecutor’s Office. He did not know that the BVT was in contact with the Syrian officer “and looked after him,” as the public prosecutor put it.

The BVT is said to have concluded the cooperation agreement with the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, which operated under the name “Operation White Milk”, on May 6, 2015 “for the purpose of gathering information”, as stated in the indictment. In July of the same year, the BVT is said to have claimed that the Syrian general, who was in France at the time and had an asylum procedure in progress there, was endangered. A “threat prognosis” was drawn up, whereby the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) assumes that this allegation was unchecked and was only intended to enable the General’s intended entry into Austria.

Asylum status revoked

The man was then taken to Austria, “taken over” by the BVT in Salzburg and supported in filing an application for asylum, which, according to the WKStA, was made under false pretenses. Apparently, the general’s asylum status has now been revoked. When asked whether his asylum denial procedure had been completed, he said as a witness: “I currently have no asylum status.” Whether this foreign law decision is final? “I have no idea,” the general replied curtly.

Judge had “no concerns”

A former judge in the Ministry of Justice (BMJ) was also questioned as a witness, who attended a meeting in the BMJ, which was attended by Christian Pilnacek, the currently suspended section head in the Ministry of Justice, the accused chief inspector and the accused ex-spy chief, as well as representatives of the CIJA. “I had no reason to doubt the seriousness of the organization,” said the witness. During the conversation, representatives of the NGO expressed concerns that there was a suspected war criminal in Austria. The accused BVT officials then said neither that they knew the “torture general” mentioned, nor that they had looked after him.

Pilnacek “couldn’t refresh memory”

Pilnacek himself was questioned as a witness after the lunch break on Wednesday. Since he is still “persistently denied” access to his computer, he was “not able to refresh his memories of the events that took place seven years ago,” Pilnacek explained at the beginning of his interrogation. However, he only took part “passively” in the conversation in order to “show respect to one of the participants – a former ambassador”. Pilnacek was unable or unwilling to answer questions beyond the meeting with the CIJA, since his release from official secrecy only applies to this specific date. “Because I had some procedures or at least investigations into violations of official secrecy, I’m particularly careful,” he said.

Pilnacek’s questioning lasted only 15 minutes, but soon after it ended, he made a second appearance in the Grand Assizes. Before the next witness could speak, Pilnacek from the viewing area asked the judge with a hand signal how he could leave the building since the doors to the courtroom were locked. Shortly thereafter, Pilnacek left the main courtroom through a side entrance, the doors of which were open at the time.

NGO launched investigations

Another BMJ official also took part in the meeting at the ministry. During the meeting, he obtained information from the central register of residents and established that the general was actually registered in Vienna. The “colleagues” from the BVT were commissioned to check whether he lived there. Because only if the general had been in Austria would there be jurisdiction. They took note of this, but gave no indication that this person had been cared for by the BVT, the witness said. At the same time, the NGO Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) was asked to provide more information about the general. “This NGO had a goal, that was very clear. They wanted us to initiate criminal proceedings (…). They should provide more evidence that he also had command responsibility.”

The CIJA had sent information about the general and his possible involvement in war crimes in Syria to the Ministry of Justice, thereby initiating criminal investigations by the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office against the officer. In granting evidence from the defense, the court will summon and testify a representative of CIJA, for which purpose the hearing has been adjourned until July 10. Whether a Mossad representative, who the defense attorneys had also requested as a witness, will also be summoned will be decided at the next meeting. As the judges announced, there will be another hearing after July – “at the beginning of September at the earliest”, as it was said.