British police arrest three on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence
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Three suspects are being questioned over alleged offences under the British National Security Act.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Three men in their 40s were arrested in London on Oct 23 on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence services, the British police said.
The men are in custody and face questioning by counter terror police over alleged offences under the British National Security Act, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
The trio, aged 48, 45 and 44, were arrested in west and central London. Searches were ongoing at these addresses as well as another location, the Met added.
“We’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services and these arrests are directly related to our ongoing efforts to disrupt this type of activity,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s counter terrorism squad.
“Anyone who might be contacted by and tempted into carrying out criminal activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK should think again
“This kind of activity will be investigated and anyone found to be involved can expect to be prosecuted and there are potentially very serious consequences for those who are convicted,” he added.
Last week, Mr Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 warned that Russia, China and Iran had fuelled a dramatic rise in the threats to Britain
He said agents were “routinely” uncovering plots from foreign states to carry out surveillance, sabotage, arson or acts of physical violence in Britain.
In September, prosecutors dropped a high-profile case
The collapse triggered a political row that saw British Prime Minister Keir Starmer publish government testimony
