US EditionAustrian Court Acquits Ex-Official over Novichok Document Leak
11 Articles
11 Articles
The 59-year-old diplomat was charged with abuse of office and breach of confidentiality, but these allegations could not be proved. The acquittal in the Vienna Criminal Court on Wednesday is not yet legally valid.
Johannes Peterlik was accused of abuse of office and of breach of confidentiality. On Wednesday, he was acquitted in court, not legally binding.
der Standard AT
der Standard DEAccording to the evidence, the then Russian ambassador to Vienna should not appear in court. Peterlik had appealed to him in his defence.
Austrian court acquits official accused of leaking Novichok documents
An Austrian court acquitted Johannes Peterlik, a former senior foreign ministry official, of leaking confidential documents related to the 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal. Prosecutors had accused him of abuse of authority and breach of confidentiality, but plan to appeal the verdict.
The court saw no abuse of office around the requirement of a poison formula report. The defendant was relieved that a five-year martyrdom had now come to an end, he said after the verdict.
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