LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) – A Greek man appeared in a British court on Friday charged with carrying out surveillance on behalf of a foreign intelligence service – believed to be Iran’s – of a journalist working for the London-based television station Iran International.
Ioannis Aidinidis, 46, who was born in Georgia and now lives in Munich, Germany, was arrested on May 16 and has been charged under Britain’s National Security Act.
Prosecutor Daniel Ingham told London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court that Aidinidis was accused of travelling to Britain twice, in April and in May, to carry out surveillance of the journalist. Iran International is critical of Tehran’s government.
Aidinidis took photos of cars, houses and other addresses associated with the journalist, Ingham said, and on the second trip allegedly installed a covert camera hidden in a sock in a tree that was able to send data to unknown recipients.
Ingham said messages on Aidinidis’ phone indicated he was being funded by people abroad and that separate evidence suggested he carried out surveillance on a defence firm in Italy in between his trips to Britain.
Police said his actions were believed to be on behalf of Iran.
Aidinidis was not asked to enter a plea at this stage and was remanded in custody until his next hearing on June 19. Tehran has repeatedly denied involvement in attacks or plots in Britain.
“We know this may cause concern for many people here in the UK, and particularly those working in Persian-language media,” Helen Flanagan, head of counter-terrorism policing in London, said.
“We continue to work closely with a number of organisations and individuals to provide them with advice and support around their safety and security and this includes the specific individual and organisation linked to this investigation.”
In April, three people were charged over an attempted arson attack on premises linked to Iran International in northwest London, though the fire caused no damage or injuries.
British police have previously said they were looking at whether there were any Iranian links to that incident and a series of arson attacks on Jewish sites in the capital.
A pro-Iranian group called Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya had claimed responsibility for most of the incidents.
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton and Sharon Singleton)
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