"I am sure that you committed these crimes intending to assist Russia ... "
"Your motive in assisting them was to damage British interests."
"You were paid by the Russians for your treachery."
Judge Mark Wall, Old Bailey Courthouse, London
"[David Ballantyne Smith was motivated by] greed and a hatred of our country."
"That hatred was palpable and led him into engaging in what can only be described as really despicable behaviour."
Nick Price, head, Crown Prosecution Service, Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division
"He betrayed us all and put our embassy and our country at risk."
"I'm, grateful to MI5 and their amazing officers, the police and our German partners for seeing him put on trial and sentenced."
British Security Minister Tom Tugenhat
A still from a covert camera shows Smith taking a video of CCTV monitors in the British embassy security kiosk in Berlin.Photograph: Metropolitan police/AFP/Getty Images
The court was addressed by Smith as he told them he was ashamed of what he had done. He had, he explained, filmed the documents in question after "seven pints of beer". It just "seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Your regrets are no more than self-pity", responded the judge, rejecting the man's statement of remorse.
58-year-old David Ballantyne Smith, a former security guard posted at the British embassy in Berlin, passed hugely sensitive information to Russia. He was well paid for his efforts in collecting confidential data for over three years, including a secret letter from ministers to then-prime minister Boris Johnson, along with additional sensitive documents. For this, Judge Wall sentenced him to prison for over 13 years.
Although Smith pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Official Secrets Act, including conduct between 2020 and 2021, the judge felt his "subversive activities" had truly been initiated even two years before. Smith, according to prosecutor Alison Morgan, had forwarded a letter containing "highly sensitive information" relating to the embassy and its staff to General Major Sergey Chukhrov, his counterpart at the Berlin embassy.
The letter he sent to the Russian military attache in 2020 written on British embassy-headed notepaper, provided the names, home addresses and telephone numbers of embassy staff. Enclosed with the letter were documents written by the British embassy's lead officer dealing with Russia. The letter's discovery initiated a joint investigation between British and German authorities, described by Justice Wall as a "sting operation".
A USB stick containing several photographs of embassy staff and diplomatic passports was discovered in a search of Mr. Smith's Potsdam, Germany home. The court heard from Smith of his regret, but they were understandably unimpressed. Guilty as charged.
"[Smith] abused his position in the British Embassy in Berlin [to carry out] an attack on our country."
"His actions were not just driven by money and greed. On
multiple occasions, he expressed a strong dislike towards the U.K. and
Germany and expressed sympathy with the Russian authorities."
"These
beliefs may have caused further damage had Smith not been discovered and
prosecuted."
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is a killer his soldiers are fascists, 352 children have been killed [in Ukraine]."
"How many more children should die for you to stop?"
"May the murdered kids haunt your dreams tonight."
"I do not plan to stop, I am not afraid despite the constant intimidation from the authorities."
"The next 10 generations won't be able to clean themselves from the shame of this fratricidal war."
"I'm ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television
screen. Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies.We just silently watched this inhumane regime."
"The
[Mach] interrogation lasted for more than 14 hours, I wasn't allowed to get in
touch with my family or friends, I was denied access to a lawyer."
"It
was my anti-war decision. I made this decision by myself because I
don't like Russia starting this invasion. It was really terrible."
Marina Ovsyannikova, former state Russian TV journalist
Marina Ovsyannikova in a Moscow court room.AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
She
is defiant and courageous. She will not be intimidated, she speaks
what she believes and feels. She is a Russian hero, a formerly admired
state journalist whose presence on television was familiar to all
Russians. When the Russian 'special military operation' was still in its
infancy, not yet a month after the February 24 invasion, she staged an
on-air protest against the war campaign that Moscow forced on Ukraine.
Following her first March protest she was briefly placed under arrest
and fined.
She then left Russia given a short contract with the German newspaper Die Welt.
When she returned to Russia it was with full knowledge that she could
be re-arrested. Her return was occasioned in early July, drawn to fight
for access to her two children following her ex-husband having filed a
lawsuit for sole custody. And nor was she determined to keep a low
profile even at that. This Russian daughter of a Ukrainian father
continued to stage public protests against Russia's conflict in Ukraine.
On
August 10 police raided her home to arrest her. A day later, she was
charged with spreading fake news about the military, an
offense that carries up to ten years in prison under a special Russian
law enacted in the wake of the invasion. Any criticism, even referencing
the 'special military operation' as a conflict, or the use of the word
'war' could have a protester arrested and face years of incarceration.
Even while Ms.Ovsyannikova sat in the glassed-in courtroom cage, she
lifted a hand-lettered sign reading: "May the murdered kids haunt your dreams tonight."
A resident stands next to a house destroyed by a Russian military strike
in Marhanets, a town in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Aug. 10. (Press service of the National Police of Ukraine/Reuters)
She
was ordered by the court to be placed under house arrest. To await a
trial on charges of spreading false information about the Russian armed
forces. Involved last month in a street protest where she held up a
banner condemning Vladimir Putin as a killer, if convicted she could be
penalized by ten years in prison. That being the case, the woman who is
prepared to fight for the right to have access to her children may not
see them again. In the mid-July protest there were two dolls lying at
her feet, covered in red ink to simulate blood.
Her
trial is set for October 9. A wide crackdown on anti-war protests
across Russia to stamp out dissent has victimized many loyal Russians
who just happen not to be loyal to Vladimir Putin. His violent incursion
in Ukraine has appalled his critics, detractors and opponents.
OVD-info, an independent Russian human rights watchdog, estimates that
over 15,000 detentions have taken place since March, with up to 178
people facing court trials who could end up with lengthy prison
sentences.
Former Russian state TV employee Marina Ovsyannikova Reuters
This represents a general opinion site for its author. It also offers a space for the author to record her experiences and perceptions,both personal and public. This is rendered obvious by the content contained in the blog, but the space is here inviting me to write. And so I do.
