LONDON: Five Bulgarian nationals accused of being part of a Russian spying network in Britain, tasked with carrying out surveillance and obtaining information about targets, appeared by videolink in a London court on Tuesday.
The three men and two women are accused of conspiring “to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state” between Aug. 30, 2020 and Feb. 8, 2023.
Orlin Roussev, 45, Bizer Dzhambazov, 41, Katrin Ivanova, 31, Ivan Stoyanov, 31, and Vanya Gaberova, 29, all Bulgarian nationals who lived in London and Norfolk, were arrested by counterterrorism police in February this year.
They did not enter a plea at this stage and were remanded in custody until their next appearance at London’s Old Bailey court on Oct. 13.
Roussev, Dzhambazov, and Ivanova had already been charged with identity document offenses and are due to appear at the Old Bailey on Thursday over those allegations.
Describing the charges, prosecutor Kathryn Selby told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the defendants were accused of being part of an organized network which had carried out surveillance and hostile action on behalf of Russia against specific targets, including for potential abductions.
Selby said Roussev’s home was the group’s alleged operating hub in Britain, and said the network had been given tasking by a person known as Jan Marsalek.
Marsalek, the former chief operating officer for collapsed payments company Wirecard, is wanted by German police over alleged fraud and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
He has not been charged with any crime in Britain but was named as an alleged co-conspirator in the charges against the five Bulgarians. The office of Marsalek’s lawyer declined to comment. Britain has been seeking to take tougher action on external security threats and potential spies, and in July passed a national security law, aiming at overhauling its means of deterring espionage and foreign interference with new tools and criminal provisions.
At the time, the government labelled Russia as “the most acute threat” to its security.
There has been no response from the Russian embassy in London to the news of the accusations.
Last November, Britain’s domestic spy chief said more than 400 suspected Russian spies had been expelled from Europe, striking the “most significant strategic blow” against Moscow in recent history.
Bulgarians accused of being Russian spies appear in UK court
https://arab.news/psngd
Bulgarians accused of being Russian spies appear in UK court
- They did not enter a plea at this stage and were remanded in custody until their next appearance at London’s Old Bailey court on Oct. 13
- Prosecutor Kathryn Selby told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the defendants were accused of being part of an organized network
Three more UK pro-Palestinian activists end hunger strike
- The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws
LONDON: Three detained pro-Palestinian activists awaiting trial in the UK have ended their hunger strike after 73 days, a campaign group said.
The three began “refeeding” on Wednesday, Prisoners for Palestine said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The decision leaves just one person still on hunger strike who started six days ago, it confirmed to AFP. Four others called off their hunger strike earlier.
The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws.
They deny the charges.
The group, aged 20-31, launched their hunger strike in November in protest at their treatment and called for their release from prison on bail as they await trial.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said in parliament that all “rules and procedures” were being followed in their cases.
His government outlawed Palestine Action in July after activists, protesting the war in Gaza, broke into a UK air force base and caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage.
Some of those on hunger strike are charged in relation to that incident.
The inmates’ demands included that the government lift its Palestine Action ban and close an Israel-linked defense firm.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the ban last July, and High Court judges are expected to rule at a later date on whether to uphold the prohibition.
