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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LONDON — A UK parliamentary researcher and another man have been charged with spying for China after allegedly providing information which could be “useful to an enemy”.
Christopher Cash, 29, the researcher, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged under the Official Secrets Act.
They are accused of giving “articles, notes, documents or information” to a foreign state, the Met Police said.
China has called the allegations “malicious slander”. Counter-terrorism police have described the allegations as “very serious”.
Berry, from Witney in Oxfordshire, and Cash, of Whitechapel, London, were arrested last March in connection with the investigation.
It was previously reported that one of the men — Cash — was a parliamentary researcher involved with the China Research Group, and who is understood to have had access to several Conservative MPs.
The Sunday Times reported the researcher had access to security minister Tom Tugendhat and foreign affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns, among others.
The charges against Cash, of Whitechapel, London, are alleged to have happened between Jan. 20, 2022 and Feb. 3, 2023, while the charges against Berry, from Witney in Oxfordshire, are alleged to have happened between Dec. 28, 2021 and Feb. 3, 2023.
Cdr Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Command, said it had been an “extremely complex investigation”.
“We’ve worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service as our investigation has progressed and this has led to the two men being charged today,” he said.
“We’re aware there has been a degree of public and media interest in this case, but we would ask others to refrain from any further comment or speculation, so that the criminal justice process can now run its course.”
The Met said officers previously arrested a man in his 30s at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s at an address in Edinburgh two men on March 13, 2023.
Both men were subsequently released on police bail while the investigation continued and a case file was passed to the CPS for consideration in late 2023, police said.
The charge states that “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, obtained, collected, recorded, published, or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information, which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.
The two men have been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 26.
Nick Price, head of the CPS’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Criminal proceedings against the defendants are active.
No-one should report, comment or share information online which could in any way prejudice their right to a fair trial.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said it had already “made relevant response on Sept. 10, 2023”.
The spokesperson said: “I would like to reaffirm that the claim that China is suspected of ‘stealing British intelligence’ is completely fabricated and nothing but malicious slander.
“We firmly oppose it and urge the UK side to stop anti-China political manipulation and stop putting on such self-staged political farce.” — BBC
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