No evidence that Russia pressured Dutch teens suspected of espionage, Prosecutor says

There is no evidence that Russia pressured the Dutch teenagers arrested last month into spying for the country, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said on Friday in response to reports in the Telegraaf. Three 17-year-old boys are under investigation, two of whom were arrested. All three boys are back home, though one is still under pre-trial house arrest.

The newspaper reported earlier on Friday that the Russian hacker group involved exerted pressure on one of the boys because they had his address. The boy’s father also told the newspaper that other kids from his son’s school and in their neighborhood had been lured into the Telegram groups used by the hackers.

The OM denied this. According to the OM, a hacker group affiliated with the Russian government hired one of the three boys to map Wi-Fi networks in The Hague. The boy enlisted the help of the other two to collect this data, which they shared with the hacker group for payment, not pressure.

There are currently no indications that more kids are involved in this case. “There are also no indications yet that pressure was exerted on the suspect who was in contact with the hacker group,” the OM said.

The boys are suspected of “providing services to a foreign power.” According to the OM, the data they collected “could be used for digital espionage and cyberattacks,” the OM said.

The police launched this investigation based on information from the military intelligence service MIVD. Two boys were arrested on September 22. One is still in pre-trial custody, awaiting the rest of the investigation under house arrest. The other one was released from pre-trial detention on October 8.

The third boy was questioned by the police, who seized data carriers from him. This boy was not arrested because of his “limited role in the case,” but the investigation against him is ongoing.