Have Soviet/Russian spies penetrated the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO? For the past year and a half this question has been raised repeatedly in Australia, and at the end of last month a local court in Canberra began hearing the case of a former ASIO officer named George Sadil who was arrested 18 months ago under suspicion of being a spy for Russia.


The 58-year-old Sadil worked for ASIO for more than 25 years as a translator who monitored telephone calls from the Soviet Embassy in Canberra and the consulate in Sydney. He was arrested in May 1993, caught removing secret documents from his office. Authorities believe he passed documents along to a KGB/FSK agent working under the cover of the trade mission in Canberra. Both Sadil and the supposed agent attended the same Baptist church in Canberra.


Russians always have a two-pronged reaction to these spy scandals. We are simultaneously sorry for the exposed spy and proud that Russia can do at least something -- spying -- well. As it turns out, I happened to be visiting Australia during the first days of the Sadil trial, and I was able to ask some highly placed Russian diplomats about the case.


They maintain that the whole thing is pure fabrication. They pointed out that although the Russian diplomats who were identified as "spies" have left Australia, they are continuing their diplomatic careers. They argue that NATO countries would hardly allow these people entry if they were truly thought to be spies.


Of course, one is naturally suspicious of these diplomats' arguments. However, Australian authorities were finally compelled to drop the espionage charges against Sadil for lack of evidence. He is currently charged only with removing classified materials illegally.


But the most remarkable and effective protest has been raised by Father Alexander Morozov, the minister at Sidal's church. Morozov has spoken out angrily in the press about how ASIO agents interrogated his elderly parishioners.


Morozov also expressed his concern over the ASIO's handling of the matter in a letter to Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. As a result, the ASIO immediately announced an internal investigation of its agents' conduct.


Even though the case against Sidal has collapsed and the ASIO has egg on its face, the subject of Russian penetration into the Australian secret service remains alive.


In the wake of Sidal's arrest, Keating initiated a secret investigation to ferret out possible KGB penetration into the ASIO. Some details from that inquiry have begun filtering into the local press.


At least three former and active ASIO officers are currently under suspicion. The investigating commission has ascertained that a KGB officer who worked in Canberra in the 1970s was decorated for his work recruiting agents in Australia. The commission's suspicions are supported by the complete lack of KGB failures in the country since the beginning of the 1960s, and the corresponding collapse of virtually every anti-KGB operation undertaken by the ASIO during that period.


Just as the commission was winding up, a book by former KGB general Oleg Kalugin appeared in which he described the KGB's successes in Australia at the end of the 1970s. Now people are asking: Are these the same agents the commission found, or should they be looking for others?