TBILISI – The alleged ringleader of three Georgian photojournalists accused of spying for enemy Russia has confessed to involvement in espionage, both officials and his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official at Georgia’s interior ministry said the alleged kingpin of the spy ring, European Pressphoto Agency photographer Zurab Kurtsikidze, had become the third of the trio to admit guilt.
“All three have now confessed,” the official told AFP.
Secret information contained on the police national computer would be like gold to foreign intelligence agencies, and highly valuable for espionage purposes, says investigative journalist and SIS expert Nicky Hager.
“You’ve got potential names you could steal and use, you’ve got all their backgrounds. You’ve got this fantastic resource on another country,” he said. “If you’re an intelligence agency that would be a very high-value thing to seize.”
The espionage charges brought recently against three photographers in Georgia are stirring a debate in Tbilisi: how spooky is the Russian bogeyman?
Some observers believe Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration is suffering from a severe case of spy mania. Others, however, maintain the cases are all too real.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is cutting back his trip to Africa even further so he can prepare for an emergency session of Parliament on the phone hacking crisis.
Cameron’s office announced Monday that the trip was being cut short by seven hours. The high-profile resignations are making it harder for Cameron to contain the intensifying scandal on the eve of an unwelcome public grilling by lawmakers for Rupert Murdoch and his son James.
Cameron had had initially intended to spend five days traveling to four countries, including Rwanda and South Sudan.
He had already cut back his trip, dropping stops in Rwanda and South Sudan. He cut back the trip further on Monday.
A doctoral student who was detained when he tried to leave his native Iran earlier this year will go on trial tomorrow for charges related to espionage, according to sources close to him.
Omid Kokabee has been detained since late January or February this year when he was attempting to fly from Tehran airport to return to his studies at the University of Texas at Austin, US. Physics World understands that he is suspected of leaking Iranian scientific information and working with the CIA.
