A former top official, Johannes Peterlik, has been acquitted in a court case related to the aftermath of the scandal surrounding Austria's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT).

In the espionage trial against Egisto Ott, a former head of the Austrian Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT) stated that Ott was 'cultivated' by Russia 15 years ago.

The trial against Egisto Ott, a former official of the dissolved Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT), continued in Vienna on Thursday, facing charges of alleged espionage.