<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/24/suspected-russian-spies-trial-slovenia>
"Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gisch settled in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, in
2017, with their two young children. People who met the couple tended to like
them; the new arrivals from Latin America were friendly but never overbearing,
inquisitive but never pushy.
Mayer opened an online art gallery, while Gisch ran an IT startup. They told
friends that a nagging fear of street crime at home in Argentina had prompted
their move to Europe. Peaceful, mountainous Slovenia offered a refreshing
change of pace.
In interviews with about a dozen people who knew one or both of the couple, two
words kept cropping up: “ordinary” and “nice”. Neighbours insisted the people
living at No 35 were a run-of-the-mill family, and said the children could
often be heard playing in the garden, shrieking in Spanish.
It therefore came as a shock when, early in December, Mayer and Gisch were the
targets of one of the most secretive and well-coordinated police and
intelligence operations in Slovenia’s recent history.
Officers swarmed the house, arresting the couple and taking their two children
into social care. Police also raided an office owned by the couple. Among the
finds, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation: an “enormous”
amount of cash; so much, in fact, that it took hours to count.
In late January, Slovenian outlets broke news of the arrests, linking the pair
to Russian intelligence. Sources in Ljubljana told the
Guardian this week
that “Maria and Ludwig” were in fact elite Russian spies known as “illegals”.
The arrests came after Slovenia received a tipoff from a foreign intelligence
service.
On Thursday, the foreign minister, Tanja Fajon, corroborated these claims,
telling reporters the arrested couple were in fact Russian citizens, rather
than Argentinians."
Via Doug Senko.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
