Agent with a cheat sheet

Canadian resident accused of spying for Russia

Yesterday, the trial of Paul William Hampel, suspected of espionage, began in Montreal. The indictment documents released yesterday say that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service "has reasonable grounds to believe that the foreign national identifying himself as William Paul Hampel is an employee of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the external intelligence arm of the Russian intelligence services." The judge adjourned the hearing until next Tuesday to give Hampel more time to consult with lawyers.

On November 14, police arrested Hampel at Montreal's Pierre Trudeau International Airport on the basis of a "security certificate" that allows him to detain citizens who pose a potential threat to Canada's security. The certificate was signed by Canada's Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, and Canada's Minister of Immigration, Monte Solberg, five days before the arrest. Hampel was removed from the plane on which he intended to leave Canada. “Hampel is an illegal intelligence officer who, using a fake Ontario birth certificate, obtained three Canadian passports in 1995, 2000 and 2002. Canadian citizenship is a cover for Hampel's operational activities for the SVR and poses a threat to the national security of Canada,” the indictment states in the Montreal federal court.

The Globe and Mail reports that during Hampel's arrest, in addition to a fake birth certificate, a Canadian passport, about 7,800 Canadian dollars in five different currencies, several credit cards, three mobile phones, five SIM cards were seized. cards, two digital cameras, a shortwave radio, and suspicious cheat cards. Small pieces of paper list the main events of the past: “1534 -- Jacques Cartier discovered the waterway along the St. Lawrence River. 1608 - Quebec is founded. 1754 - the beginning of the Seven Years' War. “It seems that the Russian intelligence officer was preparing for an exam on Canadian history,” the National Post newspaper is perplexed. A veteran of Russian intelligence, who wished to remain anonymous, remarked to Vremya Novostey that “this whole story smacks of paranoia and idiocy. If I go to Washington and have a US history textbook in my luggage, then this cannot in any way serve as evidence of espionage activity.”

Leading Canadian intelligence expert Professor Martin Radner believes that “if the detainee was actually engaged in espionage activities, lived in the country for ten years and was able to turn from legend into reality, then he is simply unique.” However, it remains unknown what Hampel was doing, as well as when and why he came to the attention of Canadian intelligence services. According to former SBRC employee David Harris, Hampel's involvement in espionage could be established through document checks, surveillance, wiretapping and other technical means. So far the detainee remains silent.

“We should wait until the end of the trial,” Sergei Ivanov, head of the SVR press bureau, suggested to VN. “The SVR refrains from commenting on reports that one of the Canadian residents is accused of intelligence activities in favor of Russia. I don't know more than you. The SVR, like any other intelligence service in the world, does not comment on the involvement or non-involvement of this or that person in its activities,” Mr. Ivanov told our newspaper.

Victor VOLODIN