Overview
- SHAPE security alerted Belgian military intelligence after spotting unusual behaviour, and prosecutors say the Canadian woman was arrested on suspicion of spying for a third country and of belonging to a criminal organisation following searches of her home and workplace on Friday.
- Belgian federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday that the suspect will remain in pretrial detention for another month and has 24 hours to lodge an appeal, marking the latest procedural step in the sealed inquiry.
- Authorities have not released the suspect’s name or identified the country she is alleged to have spied for, and forensic and scientific police units in Charleroi and Mons are assisting the investigation.
- NATO and SHAPE say there is no indication that command, control or operational readiness were affected by the alleged activity, and SHAPE continues day-to-day missions including work by its Cyber Security Center.
- Canada’s public safety minister pledged to ‘get to the bottom’ of the case, said Ottawa will review its security screening for interns, and confirmed officials will check whether the suspect had any links to Canadian agencies since responsibility for intern vetting lies with the sending country.