An employee of the Russian intelligence service GRU has tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The Russian pretended to be a Brazilian who wanted to work at the ICC as an intern. He had already been hired, but could be arrested at Schiphol at the beginning of April.
According to Erik Akerboom, director-general of the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), it is rare that an intelligence officer “of this caliber” is arrested. Akerboom says that “all alarm bells” went off.
He emphasizes that the situation would have been very threatening if the man had managed to work at the ICC. For example, the infiltrator could have gained access to information and people that are “very interesting to the GRU”, Akerboom said. He could also have influenced several criminal cases within the ICC.
The ICC is currently investigating possible war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. “Because of his (false, ed.) Brazilian identity, he could also have started investigating cases concerning Russia.”
‘It was classic intelligence work’
It concerns 36-year-old Russian Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov. He applied to the ICC under a false Brazilian identity, calling himself Viktor Muller Ferreira. After his arrest, he was sent back to Brazil, where he is still detained pending a criminal case against him.
He could be arrested through cooperation between different national services, says Akerboom. “It was classic intelligence work.” He cannot say whether the man has been under surveillance for longer.
Infiltrators like Cherkasov are called ‘illegals’ by intelligence services. Akerboom: “Unmasking an illegal immigrant is very rare. The GRU has invested years in concealing the real identity. That is an enormous effort.”
Possibly several such suspects
It is not clear whether this incident is an isolated case. “We are not naive and assume that there are others of his caliber walking around. We all know that this happens, but it is rarely visible,” said Akerboom.
The arrest was made in early April, but is only now being announced. This is partly in order not to frustrate the ongoing investigation, says Akerboom. By making this case public, according to him, awareness should also be created. “We want to point out to people and companies that this can happen, so that they share those signals when they suspect.”
