VIENNA, June 20 (RIA Novosti) - Austria's foreign ministry confirmed Wednesday the Russian detained for spying last week had diplomatic immunity, adding they planned to request Russia strip him of his status.
"We sent a query to the United Nations, and have received a reply this evening, saying that the detained Russian national has diplomatic immunity," the ministry spokesman said.
He added that his ministry would ask the relevant Russian authorities to have the detainee stripped of his diplomatic status, citing the gravity of the charges laid against him.
The detained is a 51-year-old member of the Russian space cooperation team, the Russian Space Agency and the foreign ministry have not released his name, and is identified by the local press as "Vladimir V." Military counterintelligence was also reported to have detained a junior officer serving with the Austrian Air Force, suspected of illegally transferring sensitive information.
