Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini told
parliament on Thursday that Walter Biot, an Italian navy captain
arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia last week, did not
have access to documents on military operations.
Biot is accused of passing on dozens of classified documents on
NATO telecoms systems and other top-secret matters to two
Russian embassy officials who have been expelled from Italy.
"The officer had a position that authorized him to see
classified material, but his responsibilities did not feature
command or management activities," Guerini told parliament's
defence committees.
"This led him to have access to evaluation and policy documents
but not to documents for the management of operations or details
about the capabilities of nations or of NATO".
Guerini said that, while he did not want to jump the gun on the
outcome of criminal procedures, the case did not reflect "the
values and experience of our armed forces".
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