Tag: espionage

WSJ Reporter Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison, Employer Calls It a ‘Disgraceful, Sham Conviction’

An American reporter for the Wall Street Journal was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison after being convicted of espionage in what his employer called “a hurried, secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham.”

Evan Gershkovich was ordered to serve the sentence at a high-security penal colony, the Journal reported.

“The court’s Friday verdict — after three days of hearings — was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion, since acquittals in Russian espionage trials are exceedingly rare,” according to the report.

“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour said in a statement.

Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 by Russian authorities while on assignment for the Wall Street Journal in Yekaterinburg.

Russian officials “have produced no public evidence to support their allegations,” the Journal reported.

“Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.,” the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. State Department said Gershkovich was “wrongfully detained” and said it is working to secure his release.

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US Air Force Veteran Charged With Disclosing Classified Military Information

A U.S. Air Force veteran was arrested on June 27 for allegedly disclosing classified information on military aircraft and weapons to unauthorized people, according to an unsealed indictment.

Paul J. Freeman, of Niceville, Florida, was indicted by a federal grand jury for unauthorized possession and transmission of classified national defense information following his initial appearance in federal court, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release.

The 68-year-old allegedly disclosed sensitive information on U.S. Air Force aircraft and weapons to unauthorized people between November 2020 and March 2021, the DOJ said.

According to the indictment, the information that Mr. Freeman possessed and disclosed pertained to the “vulnerabilities” of military aircraft and weapons systems.

Prosecutors argued that Mr. Freeman “had reason to believe [the information] could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.”

The indictment states that in February 2021 Mr. Freeman allegedly “willfully communicated, delivered, and transmitted” the information to “persons not entitled to receive it.”

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Suspected Chinese Spy Bases in Cuba Have Undergone Expansion: Report

Cuba has upgraded and expanded four electronic surveillance facilities, including one near the Guantanamo Bay naval base, amid growing concern about China’s spying efforts in the United States’ backyard, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“While China’s activities on the island remain shrouded in secrecy, satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS provides the latest and most comprehensive assessment of where China is most likely operating,” the report reads.

The report pointed to four active sites at Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. It added that the four locations are “strategically located” and are “among the most likely locations supporting China’s efforts to spy on the United States.”

In June 2023, the White House confirmed that China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. In the same month, the State Department warned that the Chinese regime will “keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba,” and the United States “will keep working to disrupt it.”

China’s surveillance activities in Cuba are a grave national security concern for the United States, given that Florida is home to numerous U.S. military bases, including the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Southern Command, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Eglin Air Force Base.

“Collecting data on activities like military exercises, missile tests, rocket launches, and submarine maneuvers would allow China to develop a more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,” the report reads.

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Yemen dismantles extensive US, Israeli spy network

Yemeni security services have uncovered an extensive spy network operated by US and Israeli intelligence agencies and active within various institutions in Yemen since 2015, Al Mayadeen reported on 10 June.

The head of Yemen’s intelligence agency, the Security and Intelligence Service, Major General Abdul Hakim Hashem al-Khaiwani, said in a televised statement, “The exposed network collected important information in various fields and carried out direct espionage technical operations on behalf of the enemy’s intelligence services to obtain confidential, sovereign information.”

The agency added that the network gathered critical information across multiple sectors and relayed it to hostile intelligence services.

The information was used to influence decision-makers, infiltrate state agencies, sabotage Yemen’s economy and agricultural sector, and recruit officials within the Yemeni government.

Additionally, the espionage network provided military intelligence to US and Israeli intelligence agencies to weaken the Yemeni army and diminish its capabilities.

According to SABA News Agency, a security official said that the members caught over the past few days were recruited to work on collecting information and monitoring sites belonging to the Yemeni Armed Forces on the western coast of the Republic of Yemen.

The Al Mayadeen correspondent added that dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of members in various ministries, institutions, and organizations are part of the vast intelligence network seized by the Yemeni security services.

Yemeni forces are currently engaged in a conflict with the US, UK, and Israel. Yemeni forces began attacking Israeli-linked commercial ships in November in response to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The US and UK responded by attacking Yemeni naval and land targets.

Earlier this month, Yemeni security forces detained more than a dozen aid workers, including UN staff, in an apparently coordinated sweep, according to a diplomatic source and a Yemeni NGO.

At least 18 Yemeni aid workers were detained, the Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights said, listing ten workers from UN agencies.

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Congo’s Polish Spy Scandal Is Worth Paying Attention To After The Recent Failed Coup Attempt

While all eyes are on Ukraine and Gaza, the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues deteriorating, and it’s quickly becoming a New Cold War battleground after the latest security deal with Russia in early March preceded mid-May’s failed coup attempt that involved three Americans.

The Associated Press reported that “Poland’s president seeks release of Polish traveler sentenced to life in Congo”, which drew attention to a spy scandal from February. 52-year-old traveler Mariusz Majewski was detained on charges that he “approached the front line with Mobondo militiamen, moved along the front line without authorization, and took photos of sensitive and strategic places and secretly observed military activities.” That preceded mid-May’s failed coup attempt that involved three Americans.

For background, Polish President Andrzej Duda was in neighboring Rwanda in mid-February, where he scandalously declared that “If Rwanda is ever in danger, we will also support it”, thus prompting furious protests from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that’s unofficially at war with Rwanda. This phase of the DRC’s three-decade-long conflict was explained here and here in November 2022, with the first presenting a general overview and the second delving into the roles of France and Rwanda.

To oversimplify this very complex conflict, the mineral-rich east has long been a focal point of global attention due to its resources being indispensable for the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR), namely electric vehicles, computers, and modern-day gadgets. French-backed Uganda conventionally intervened in the DRC with Kinshasa’s approval to fight against Rwandan-backed M23 rebels prior to withdrawing in December once the M23-DRC dimension of this country’s long-running conflict further intensified.

France demanded in late April that Rwanda dump the M23 and pull its troops out of the country, which was shortly thereafter followed by the US calling on Rwanda to punish those of its servicemen that it claims joined the rebels in an attack around that time in the east. For what it’s worth, Rwanda has always denied both accusations, but almost all non-Rwandan observers agree that they’re true. Interestingly, the EU inked a green energy deal with Rwanda in February, so ties between those two aren’t that bad.

Al Jazeera criticized their agreement though by drawing attention to how Rwanda exports more than it mines, which is proof that it’s extracting 4IR-relevant mineral resources from the DRC via its M23 proxies, who in early May took control of “the coltan capital of the world” in the eastern town of Rubaya. Just two weeks later, the DRC foiled the earlier mentioned coup attempt that involved three Americans. While the exact goals of that putsch were unclear, they certainly had something to do with the 4IR.

The DRC under incumbent President Felix Tshisekedi, who won re-election last December in a landslide, has been actively working to renegotiate mineral agreements with its key partners like China due to claims of the previous government reaching completely lopsided arrangements for corrupt reasons. Chinese companies, for example, recently pledged to invest $7 billion into a slew of infrastructure projects in order to resolve their dispute from last year.

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Ex-Royal Marine, 37, accused of spying for China on Hong Kong activists after fighting the Taliban and Somali pirates is found dead in a park

A Former Royal Marine accused of spying for Hong Kong has been found dead in ‘unexplained’ circumstances last night.

Matthew Trickett, 37 was found dead in a park near his home just days after being charged with carrying out surveillance and hostile reconnaissance on pro-democracy activists in the UK for the Hong Kong intelligence service.

The suspected spy, who worked as an immigration enforcement officer for the Home Office, due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday charged with betraying his country.

In a statement, his family said: ‘We’re mourning the loss of a much-loved son, brother and family man.’

Speaking of the Royal Marine’s death, a local resident told MailOnline: ‘This has been extremely disturbing for residents.

‘Police have been going around asking for doorbell cam in the hope of tracing his movements.

‘The next thing we heard, this was an unexplained death and now we hear about the spying charges he was facing.’

Police said they are currently treating the death as unexplained.

But it can be revealed that prosecutors wanted to remand him in custody for his own safety, after a previous suicide attempt following his arrest.

Despite this, the Afghanistan veteran was released on bail last Monday.

In an extraordinary espionage case which is the first of its kind, Trickett and two other men, Chi Leung Wai, 38, who works at Heathrow Airport for UK Border Force and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, a trade official, are jointly accused of carrying out surveillance operations in the UK allegedly targeting dissidents of the regime.

It is the first that anyone has been charged with spying on British soil for the Hong Kong intelligence service.

The trio were charged last Monday under the new National Security Act brought in last year to target those working secretly for hostile states within the UK.

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“Remarkable Turn Of Events” – Alleged Chinese Spy Working For AfD MP Was Informant For German Intelligence For Years

The news about Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Maximilian Krah’s assistant and his arrest for suspected espionage on behalf of China continues to make national headlines, but as more information comes out, the more German intelligence and the political establishment continue to look worse and worse.

Now, news reports have revealed that Krah’s employee, Chinese-German national Jian G., worked for the German domestic intelligence service for years before joining the AfD politician.

Krah has since commented on the new bombshell information, writing on X:

“Remarkable turn of events!”

Much is at stake, as Krah is the top candidate for the AfD in the run-up to the EU parliamentary elections in June. The latest report shows that the powerful Office for the Protection of Constitution (BfV) not only recruited Jian G. as a spy, but also dropped him as an informant because there were concerns he was a double agent for China.

However, despite these suspicions, Jian G. gained German citizenship, became a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), and even passed the EU parliament’s security clearance.

Former minister Mathias Brodkorb questioned the story on X, writing:

They are really funny. Let’s assume the story is true:

1. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is working with the man.

2. Then, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution ends the collaboration because the man could be a double agent.

3. Then the German state naturalizes this agent.

Intermediate question: Where was the Office for the Protection of the Constitution at that time?

4. Then, Krah wants to hire the man as an employee of the EU parliament. That cannot be done without a security check. So the EU parliament should actually have asked the German security authorities whether there was anything against the man. But apparently they didn’t. Otherwise, the man would not have been cleared and could not have been hired.

Intermediate question: Where was the Office for the Protection of the Constitution at that time? And you are now seriously asking what the problem is? Seriously?

One of the main questions is why the Office for the Protection of the Constitution never informed Krah or the AfD about their suspicions, which is standard operating procedure, and one designed to protect the country’s parties from foreign infiltration. Notably, allowing Jian G. to work for Krah created a favorable political scenario for the establishment to later arrest him in order to smear the AfD. Notably, Jian G. was arrested right before EU parliamentary elections.

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CIA Built “12 Secret Spy Bases” In Ukraine & Waged Shadow War For Last Decade, Bombshell NYT Report Confirms

On Sunday The New York Times published an explosive and very belated full admission that US intelligence has not only been instrumental in Ukraine wartime decision-making, but has established and financed high tech command-and-control spy centers, and was doing so long prior to the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of two years ago.

Among the biggest revelations is that the program was established a decade ago and spans three different American presidents. The Times says the CIA program to modernize Ukraine’s intelligence services has “transformed” the former Soviet state and its capabilities into “Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today.”

This has included the agency having secretly trained and equipped Ukrainian intelligence officers spanning back to just after the 2014 Maidan coup events, as well constructing a network of 12 secret bases along the Russian border—work which began eight years ago. These intelligence bases, from which Russian commanders’ communications can be swept up and Russian spy satellites monitored, are being used launch and track cross-border drone and missile attacks on Russian territory. 

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High-end sex ring in Boston and D.C. areas was ‘honeypot’ scheme by Russia, China, South Korea or even Israel – to ensnare US officials, intelligence experts believe

Intelligence experts are becoming increasingly convinced that six high end brothels in the suburbs of Boston and Washington, D.C. were set up by a foreign nation as an espionage ‘honeytrap’.

They believe the brothels – allegedly masterminded by a 41-year-old South Korean woman – targeted politicians, high ranking government officials and defense contractors. 

But the mystery is which country was behind the scheme. Russia, China, Korea itself, or even Israel are all seen as possibly being behind the scheme.

‘Having the Koreans out front could have been a false flag to give China or another country plausible deniability if the plot unraveled,’ a one-time CIA senior operations officer told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

The brothels were raided in November and prosecutors said they were looking to charge 28 people in Massachusetts alone.

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Confirmed: Biden Admin Sought to Conceal Chinese Spy Balloon from Public As It Crossed Continental United States – Mark Milley Involved

Last January the Biden administration knew about the Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental United States, from Alaska to the Carolinas, but sought to conceal this from the American public.

A newspaper photographer first spotted the balloon over Montana.

The China spy balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January.

Joe Biden and Mark Milley knew the surveillance balloon was over the US, yet Biden chose to stand down.

The balloon soared over nuclear silos and military installations across the US with Joe Biden’s full approval.

The balloon was shot down over the Atlantic just off the coast of the Carolinas.

According to the Pentagon, the spy balloon carried explosives to self-detonate, was 200 feet tall, and weighed thousands of pounds.

The Administration knew about the spy balloon but sought to conceal it from the American public.

The Biden regime did not even notify the Gang of Eight Congressional leaders about the security breach by the Communist Chinese.

Retired General Mark Milley knew about the Chinese balloon but followed the lead of the Biden regime and kept it from the public.

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