March 10 () –
The Italian naval officer Walter Biot has been sentenced this Thursday by the Military Court of Rome to 30 years in prison, after being accused of espionage for revealing confidential information related to NATO to an official of the Russian Embassy in Italy in exchange for money.
The Rome Military Prosecutor, who was asking for life imprisonment, accuses him of having handed over classified documents to the Russian embassy official Dmitri Ostroukhov in March 2021 in exchange for 5,000 euros, according to Rai.
Among the evidence are videos in which Biot is observed taking pictures of his work computer screen in his Ministry of Defense office, in which classified information can be seen from a total of 19 reports, including ” some very confidential NATO documents and one under the category of top secret”, argued the Prosecutor’s Office at the trial.
Despite the fact that the trial was held behind closed doors, Rai assures that among the leaked documents there would be information on the operations of NATO countries against the Islamic State, specifically the situation of the Maritime Forces in the Mediterranean Sea.
However, Biot’s lawyers have already assured that they will appeal the sentence.
