The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) extensively cited Dr Waller in support of its request for a Montreal court to hold an alleged Russian “illegal” spy.
The alleged Russian deep-cover agent, who goes by the assumed name Paul William Hampel, is being held under a rarely-used “security certificate” so that he can be detained and deported to Moscow.
In documents filed with the federal court in Montreal to explain how Russia’s SVR espionage service operates the covert agents known as “illegals,” CSIS cited Professor J Michael Waller’s book, Secret Empire: The KGB In Russia Today (Westview, 1994), and his 1999 Insight magazine article, “Russian spies are alive, well.” The service attached the works as exhibits in the November 20 court filing.
Also included in the summary report are copies of the forged Canadian identity papers, including birth certificates and passports, that “Hampel” was using (see illustration).
This is at least the second time CSIS has cited the professors works in the course of legal proceedings against Russian spies. In June, 1996, Canadian security officials used Dr. Waller’s writings on the KGB and its successors in the government’s legal case against two other Russian SVR illegals, Dmitry and Yelena Olshansky.
The Olshanskys, according to CSIS, illegally emigrated to Canada in 1988 and, under false identities, lived lives as normal Canadian citizens while building an espionage network until their arrest.
For a copy of the summary of the CSIS filing before the court, click here.