Search Results for: espionage

Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws, KC, is one of the UK’s most established lawyers, a bencher at Gray’s Inn and a member of the House of Lords. Kennedy is also a broadcaster,  journalist and lecturer. She has not only acted in many of the most prominent cases of the last decade but has promoted civil [...]

The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development confirmed to German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) last week that four local Afghan employees of the German government aid organization Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) office in Afghanistan have been arrested by the Taliban-backed Afghan government. According to a confidential EU security report obtained by WDR [...]

German police, through order of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), raided the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH) and five other organizations, saying the groups were pro-Hezbollah and support the Hezbollah’s activities on Thursday. Authorities say the other organizations are subsidiaries of IZH. The raid involved police forces from several regions, and 54 objects [...]

Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi began a hunger strike from her Tehran prison cell Monday, protesting the Iranian authorities’ alleged negligence towards sick inmates and the criminalization of women who refuse to wear the hijab. The 51-year-old is currently serving multiple prison sentences in Tehran’s Evin Prison, amounting to [...]

The Court of First Instance at Doha, Qatar has awarded the death penalty to eight Indian nationals, announced the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday. While the Qatari government has not revealed the exact charges, some sources state they were arrested on charges of espionage on behalf of Israel. The judgment is currently unavailable for [...]

The UK Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) published a report Thursday finding that the FCDO failed to protect UK national Matthew Hedges from torture in United Arab Emirates. This comes following a similar Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s verdict issued on August 3. The Foreign Affairs Committee’s report draws on the findings of the Parliamentary [...]

US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was arrested in Russia Wednesday for failing to register as a “foreign agent.” Kurmasheva, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), holds dual citizenship in Russia and the United States. According to a statement from RFE/RL, Kurmasheva traveled to Russia in May for a family emergency. When she tried to [...]

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced on Wednesday the release of French-Afghan journalist Mortaza Behboudi by a Taliban court in Afghanistan. Following a 284-day detention, all charges, encompassing allegations of espionage and illegal support for foreigners, were nullified during a criminal court hearing held in Kabul, as per the statement. He was immediately released from Pul-e-Charkhi [...]

Matthew Hedges, a British academic and researcher, was arrested and accused of espionage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May 2018. There were allegations that Hedges was tortured while in detention. According to reports, he was subjected to solitary confinement, physical assault, prolonged interrogation and denial of basic rights during his imprisonment. The UAE [...]

A Russian court dismissed an appeal Tuesday from Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in pre-trial detention for more than six months on allegations of espionage, ruling that Gershkovich will continue to be held in jail. According to Russian state-affiliated news source TASS, the court “considered the appeal of Gershkovich’s defense [...]