Russian-speaking man accused of ‘hostile reconnaissance’ for TV station terror attack told police he was sightseeing in London
A Russian-speaking man accused of conducting hostile reconnaissance for a terrorist attack on a dissident Iranian TV station in West London told police he was on a weekend sightseeing visit in the capital, a court has heard.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, arrived at Gatwick from Vienna on the morning of 11 February this year and caught a taxi straight to Chiswick Business Park, paying in cash, the Old Bailey was told.
His visit was said to be the most recent in a sequence of at least three such visits by “others unknown”, beginning in the summer of 2022, following threats from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
CCTV showed Dovtaev – a Chechen-born Austrian national – as he walked nonchalantly around Building 11 in the business park where the Iran International television station was then housed on the first floor, apparently taking video footage on his mobile phone.
When his trip was spotted by security guards, he told them that he was planning to see his brother but wanted to see the “beautiful” area and have a coffee.
However, one of the security guards realised that he was speaking on his Apple Airpod earphones and insulting them in Russian, calling them “motherf******” and “b******”.
They directed him to a Starbucks on the estate and called in armed police who arrested him as he sat at a table in the coffee shop, shortly before 11am.
Read more:
Man ‘spied on Iran International to help terror plotters’
Chiswick Business Park
Accused was ‘calm’ when armed police confronted him
Nick de la Poer KC, prosecuting, said Dovtaev “remained noticeably calm” and his reaction “was not of a person who was alarmed or surprised about the fact that he was being detained under the Terrorism Act by a number of armed and unarmed police officers”.
After he was handcuffed, Dovtaev told police he was waiting for his friend “Usman” who he knew from Chechnya but had not seen for three years.
He told police officers that he was planning to go back to Austria the next day but had not booked his return ticket.
Later, at the police station, Dovtaev elaborated, telling police that he was a family man who worked in IT in Austria and was paying a weekend visit to “see a friend and tour central London.”
In a statement handed to officers, he said he had gone to Chiswick Business Park in order to meet the friend and had taken a 25-second video in order to show his children the lake at the business park.
‘Deliberate untruths’ were ‘to conceal hostile reconnaissance’
Mr de la Poer told the court: “The prosecution’s case is that this and everything the defendant told the security guards and the police officers at the scene were deliberate untruths.”
Dovtaev is now said to have come up with another version, saying that he went to the business park because he was investigating whether fraudsters, who had defrauded him and his father out of large amounts of money, were operating from Building 11.
“The prosecution’s response will be that it is another dishonest attempt by the defendant to explain his interest in Building 11,” Mr de la Poer added.
The prosecutor told the jury: “The prosecution’s case is that he was not there to meet a friend, to look at the scenery or to have a coffee.
“The prosecution’s case is that he was carrying out hostile reconnaissance on Building 11.
“That is to say, he had travelled to the UK for the purpose of recording the security arrangements at the Chiswick Business Park in order that any vulnerabilities could be identified and exploited.”
The jury was told that the TV station he was observing had attracted controversy in Iran after reporting on protests by women following the death in detention of Mahsa Amini last autumn.
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Pic: AP
Iran International journalists ‘wanted’ by Tehran
Iran International – a Persian language news broadcasting service – “regularly reports on the Iranian authorities in a way that it is highly critical, including in relation to alleged human rights violations,” Mr de la Poer told the court.
Following the channel’s reporting of the protests around Ms Amini’s death, in November 2022 Iran’s Minister of Intelligence declared the TV station to be a terrorist organisation.
Iran’s state media subsequently reported that those who worked for Iran International were “wanted” by the Ministry of Intelligence.
The Iran International TV station is critical of the country’s regime
Mr de la Poer added: “As a result of the Iranian authorities’ attitude towards Iran International, the organisation and its employees all became targets for violent reprisals.
“As such, the security at their place of work was of very real and practical interest to those who might wish to carry out such reprisals, whether that was to attack the building itself or the employees.”
The prosecution did not suggest that Dovtaev planned to carry out such an attack or even that he knew anything about what was planned by others.
However, Mr de la Poer told the jury: “The defendant, no doubt acting on the instructions of others, went to the Chiswick Business Park for the purpose of gathering information about the security arrangements around Iran International.
“The very fact that the defendant went to collect this information for those who wanted to know about the security arrangements around Iran International demonstrates that planning by others was already under way.”
Dovtaev denies a single charge of attempting to collect information useful for terrorism and the trial continues.
Donald Trump has a soft spot for military spectacles and autocrats.
He will be looking on with envy as Vladimir Putin parades both in Moscow today, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping flying in to join Victory Day events in Red Square.
European allies of Ukraine will be watching nervously, wary of anything that could upturn the delicate quest for peace.
President Trump‘s patience with peddling his much vaunted “peace deal” has been wearing thin and allies had feared Ukraine could be punished for it.
That would have been grotesquely unfair, of course. Ukraine has bent over backwards to accommodate Mr Trump’s one-sided diplomacy that has so far seemed to favour the aggressor in this obscene war.
Pic: AP
True, the Trump proposal does not agree to Russian annexation of all the land already taken by force and stops short of ordering the complete demilitarisation of Ukraine, but otherwise the proposals are pretty much everything that Moscow has asked for.
The deal is being pushed by Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s golf partner turned chief negotiator, a man regarded by diplomats as out of his depth and lost in the rough when it comes to the arts of statecraft.
Like his president, Mr Witkoff has a history of doing business with Russian oligarchs, an apparently starry-eyed view of the Russian leader and has called Ukraine a “false country”.
Moment of truth approaching
Mr Witkoff and Mr Trump have so far given Mr Putin the benefit of the doubt, but a moment of truth is approaching. While Ukraine has agreed to a longer ceasefire in principle, Mr Putin will not.
Ukraine’s European allies feared that Mr Trump was about to despair of progress, blame Ukraine and take US military support with him.
Then came the minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine. The breakthrough gave the US president something to show for his efforts and assuaged his desire for some kind of deal. He seems to have moved on for now, at least, and approved the first $50m of arms sales to Ukraine.
Members of the Russian Air Force fly over Red Square during the rehearsal. Pic: AP
But these remain a tense few days ahead with plenty at stake.
Mr Putin’s self-declared three-day ceasefire raises the spectre paradoxically of escalation if either side breaks it.
The Russian lull is seen here in Kyiv as little more than a ploy.
If the Russian leader was serious about giving peace a chance, they say, he would have signed up to the permanent ceasefire being proposed by the Trump team.
Besides, Russia broke the last truce in Easter as soon as it had begun and used it to carry out surveillance and reinforcement operations says Kyiv. Why risk another pointless pause that is exploited by the invaders?
Escalation possible
If Russia plays the same games this time and Ukraine retaliates, there could be a significant escalation. Likewise, with any Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow during Victory Day.
Any major flare-up will not be looked on favourably by the US president if it upstages his first trip abroad this presidency, a three-day tour of the Middle East.
For now, his attention is not so much on the Ukraine conflict and he is no longer issuing threats to walk away and stop supporting the Ukrainians.
Russian servicemen march towards Red Square in the rehearsal. Pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of breaching ceasefire
Putin prepares to host dozens of world leaders for Victory Day parade
That will be a relief here in the Ukrainian capital. They would be unwise to do anything to reengage him, for now at least.
Their European allies, though, know American involvement in this war appears to be receding.
Can they fill the vacuum?
This week, they remember the sacrifices made to bring peace and security to their continent 80 years ago.
Can they find the political will and unity to do so again, even without America?
Astonishingly, given all we have been through, that is still an open question.
World
India will respond ‘in exactly the same light’ if Pakistan retaliates, high commissioner tells Sky News
India will respond to any escalation from Pakistan “proportionally and in exactly the same light”, the country’s high commissioner has told Sky News.
Weeks after 26 tourists were shot dead by gunmen in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Islamabad-administered parts of the disputed region.
On Wednesday, India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has since vowed that India will “now have to pay the price” for their “blatant mistake,” and skirmishes have also been reported along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
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Speaking to Sky’s The World with Yalda Hakim on Thursday, India’s high commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, said “the original escalation is Pakistan’s sponsored terror groups’ attack on civilians”.
India strikes ‘reasonable,’ says high commissioner
He then insisted India’s strikes in Pakistan and Kashmir were “precise, targeted, reasonable and moderate,” adding: “It was focused principally and solely on terrorist infrastructure.
“We made it abundantly clear that the object of this exercise was clearly to avoid military escalation.
“A fact that was actually acknowledged – in a left-handed way of course – by the Pakistani side in terms of their own statements, which said the airspace hadn’t been violated.”
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India awaits Pakistan’s response
Pakistan chose ‘to escalate the matter’
The high commissioner also said about claims Pakistan shot down Indian aircraft with Chinese-made fighter jets: “If it satisfies Pakistan’s ego to say that they’ve done something, they could have used that as an off-ramp to move on.
“Clearly they’ve chosen not to, and they’ve chosen to escalate the matter.”
A boy collects papers from the debris of a damaged house in Gingal village. Pic: Reuters
And when asked about Pakistan’s threats of retaliation, Mr Doraiswami said: “We’re not looking for an escalation, but if Pakistan responds, as we have done, we will respond proportionally and in exactly the same light.”
He then referenced the border skirmishes, saying: “I do want to remind everybody: For the last 15 days, they’ve also opened artillery fire along the Line of Actual Control… That’s led to civilian casualties.”
Read more:
The story of India and Pakistan’s deadly conflict
How India and Pakistan’s militaries match up
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
It comes after India said Pakistan attacked its military stations in the Kashmir region with drones and missiles on Thursday.
The country’s defence ministry said stations at Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur were “targeted by Pakistani-origin” weapons, and added “the threats were swiftly neutralised”.
There is a long list of demands in the new pope’s in-tray, ranging from the position of women in the church to the ongoing fight against sexual abuse and restoring papal finances.
People both inside the Catholic Church and around the world will be watching how the new pontiff deals with them.
US Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the new pope on Thursday after just two days of conclave.
The 69-year-old, who becomes the first American pope, will take the name Leo XIV.
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‘Evil will not prevail, we are all in the hands of God’, the new American Pope told the crowd.
On Friday, Pope Leo will lead his first holy mass as pontiff after already paying a surprise visit to see staff at his former residence.
Here, Sky News Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing the new pontiff.
Sexual abuse
Many Catholic insiders credit Pope Francis with going further than any of his predecessors to address sexual abuse.
He gathered bishops together for a conference on the issue in 2019 and that led to a change that allows cooperating with civil courts if needed during abuse cases.
But it didn’t go as far as forcing the disclosure of all information gathered in relation to child abuse.
Any abuse allegations must now be referred to church leaders, but reformers stopped short of decreeing that such cases should also be automatically referred to the police.
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Clerical abuse victim says church still has ‘so much to do’
While many abuse victims agree they saw progress under Pope Francis, who spent a lot of time listening to their accounts, they say reforms didn’t go far enough.
The next pope will be under pressure to take strong action on the issue.
Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Pic: Reuters
Women
Pope Francis also did more to promote women in the Vatican than any other pontiff.
Two years ago, he allowed women to vote in a significant meeting of bishops.
While he was clear he wanted women to have more opportunities, he resisted the idea that they needed to be part of the church hierarchy and didn’t change the rules on women being ordained.
A woman kneels at St. Peter’s Square, on the first day of the conclave to elect the new pope. Pic: Reuters
His successor will need to decide if they push this agenda forward or rein it back in.
It’s a pressing concern as women do a huge amount of the work in schools and hospitals, but many are frustrated about being treated as second-class citizens. 10,000 nuns a year have left in the decade from 2012 to 2022, according to Vatican figures.
Inclusion
“Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis famously said when asked about a gay monsignor in 2013.
His supporters say he sought to make the church more open, including allowing blessings for same sex couples but while critics argue he didn’t go far enough, some conservatives were outraged.
A gay couple kiss at a Catholic protest against the legalisation of gay marriage in Mexico. File pic: Reuters
African bishops collectively rejected blessings for same sex couples, saying “it would cause confusion and would be in direct contradiction to the cultural ethos of African communities”.
How welcome LGBTQ+ people feel in the church will depend partly on decisions made by the pontiff.
Conversely, the Pope must also bring together disparate groups within the Catholic faith.
Many are demanding a leader who can unite the various factions and bring stability in an increasingly unstable world.
The global south
While the Catholic church is losing members in its traditional base of Europe, it’s growing rapidly in the global south.
The area has become the new centre of gravity for Catholicism with huge followings in countries like Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines.
Pope Francis tried to expand representation by appointing more cardinals from different areas of the world, and the new Pope will be expected to continue this.
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Behind the scenes at the conclave
Finance
The Vatican is facing a serious financial crisis.
The budget deficit has tripled since Pope Francis’s election and the pension fund has a shortfall of up to €2bn (£1.7bn).
These money worries, which were compounded by COVID-19 and long-standing bureaucratic challenges, represent a major concern for the next pope.
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