A Belgian appeals court has ordered the continued detention of a former Canadian intern at SHAPE in Casteau, near Mons, who is suspected of espionage.
The federal prosecutor’s office said on Monday that the Indictment Chamber had upheld her pre-trial detention for a further month.
The woman had appealed an earlier decision by the Council Chamber concerning her detention, according to a statement from the federal prosecutor.
She was placed under an arrest warrant on 24 July on suspicion of espionage for the benefit of a third country and involvement in a criminal organisation.
The Canadian national was working as an intern at SHAPE, NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.
The case first came to the attention of SHAPE’s security services, which reported the suspected offences to Belgium’s General Intelligence and Security Service.
Investigative steps then led to an operation carried out on Thursday 23 July by the Charleroi federal judicial police, with support from several partner services, including the Computer Crime Unit and forensic police teams from Charleroi and Mons.
