Afghan refugee stripped of his British citizenship after being accused of being a Russian spy says the case against him is 'complete fantasy', court told
- Agent known as C2 met King Charles while working for GCHQ and MI6
An Afghan refugee stripped of his British citizenship after being accused of being a Russian spy said the case against him was ‘complete fantasy’, a hearing was told today.
The alleged spy, known only as C2, is accused of spying for Russian military intelligence agency GRU.
He worked for GCHQ and MI6, meeting King Charles and Prince William while in Afghanistan working for the British government.
C2 had spent six years in Russia after leaving Afghanistan following the outbreak of civil war in 1992.
He came to the UK in 2000 and applied for asylum claiming he had come straight from Afghanistan.
He began working as an interpreter for police and courts before studying politics and intelligence and securities services and gaining employment with UK intelligence agencies.
![The alleged spy known as C2, who also claims to have worked for the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ, is said to have gained access to 'top secret' documents (Pictured: Aerial view of GCHQ)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/09/15/80992581-13066283-The_alleged_spy_who_also_claims_to_have_worked_for_the_Foreign_O-a-90_1707493943192.jpg)
The alleged spy known as C2, who also claims to have worked for the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ, is said to have gained access to 'top secret' documents (Pictured: Aerial view of GCHQ)
![In 2019 he was stripped of his British citizenship and kicked out of the country because MI5 believed he was an agent for the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/09/16/80992755-13066283-In_2019_he_was_stripped_of_his_British_citizenship_and_kicked_ou-a-91_1707494591220.jpg)
In 2019 he was stripped of his British citizenship and kicked out of the country because MI5 believed he was an agent for the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency
In the late 2000s he went back to Afghanistan to work for the UK Foreign Office, before leaving to work for the Afghan government and then going into the oil industry.
He was stripped of his British citizenship in 2019 after MI5 concluded he was an agent for Russian military intelligence.
He denies being an agent or that he poses any risk to the national security of the United Kingdom and is appealing against the decision to strip him of citizenship.
C2 is appealing against the government’s decision to strip him of his British citizenship in a hearing before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in central London.
In his closing submissions, Robert Palmer, KC, representing C2, said his client had put forward a ‘full and substantive case’ while the government had put forward ‘the bare minimum’ in public.
He said C2 was disadvantaged as the court had heard most of the evidence in private and C2 has not heard it.
‘He has only been told he is or was assessed to be an agent of the GRU.
‘Even the broad gist that we have been given doesn’t tell us what it is that C2 is alleged to have done.
![C2 returned to the UK in one of the last flights out of Kabul during the Taliban takeover in 2021](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/09/16/81070995-13066283-image-a-93_1707494608735.jpg)
C2 returned to the UK in one of the last flights out of Kabul during the Taliban takeover in 2021
‘It tells us he is alleged to have had some formal relationship with the GRU and been responsive to them in some unspecified fashion.’
C2 accepts he has spoken to Russian intelligence officials and swapped messages with them during his working life.
‘Even on C2’s best efforts to recall and explain anything which might have given rise to any impression on the part of the security services that he had some kind of formal relationship there is nothing else he can lay a hand on in terms of what the security service has in mind.
‘He doesn’t know what the target is he must shoot at and has responded by giving the fullest possible account of his life story including any contact with Russians and any representatives of the Russian state.’
C2 has accepted he lied in his asylum application when he arrived in the UK, exaggerating the danger he faced and claiming he had come straight from Afghanistan when he actually spent six years in Russia.ite security services warning of risks if he re-entered the UK
Mr Palmer said: ‘Just because he was content to exaggerate the danger in Afghanistan on his arrival in the UK- like many- doesn’t mean his honesty overall is impugned.’
He said he had made a very positive contribution to the UK in his work since.
Mr Palmer said the suggestion C2 had been a GRU agent since the age of five, or since before his arrival in the UK was ‘completely implausible’.
He said C2 would not have left the UK for Afghanistan, then left the foreign office, and then left the Afghan government to work in the private sector if he was spy.
‘Why would a man trained from childhood establish a role at the heart of UK intelligence in GCHQ and subsequently the Foreign Office then leave that position and go and live in Afghanistan?
‘Even assuming his new role was seen as valuable why would he leave again to work in the private sector?
‘He was private individual seeking to progress his career in interesting work and make money.’
Mr Palmer said the idea C2 could have been identified by the GRU before 9/11 as someone who could establish a role in the British government and then be deployed in Afghanistan was ‘complete fantasy’.
C2 accepted a Russian agent made him a fake Russian passport before he came to the UK to seek asylum.
He said he did not know how the agent obtained the fake passport or whether he had links to Russian Intelligence services.
![The spy met Prince Charles and Prince William on visits to Afghanistan while working for the Foreign Office in the late 2000s](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/09/16/80992765-13066283-The_refugee_identified_as_C2_met_Prince_Charles_and_Prince_Willi-a-94_1707494728895.jpg)
The spy met Prince Charles and Prince William on visits to Afghanistan while working for the Foreign Office in the late 2000s
Mr Palmer said he was carrying out: ‘Work of great important and sensitivity at great personal risk.’
He said it was ‘no surprise’ C2 took a leading role in relations with Russia when working for the Afghan Ministry of Commerce as he had Russian language skills and spent time there.
C2 had six trips to Russia and had frequent meetings and dinner parties with officials.
He continued his contact with Russia in his private work in the oil industry.
Mr Palmer said: ‘Russia was one of the main providers of fuel in Afghanistan and C2’s work required regular contact with Russians.’
He said C2 accepted that fuel is a ‘dirty business’ and he had routinely had to pay bribes on behalf of his employer.
C2 worked under former British prime ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
He also met Prince Charles and Prince William when he made visits to Afghanistan while working for the Foreign Office in the late 2000s.
Mr Palmer asked the judge, Mr Justice Jay, to make a factual finding that C2 is not and was not a GRU agent and allow his appeal.
The hearing continues with judgement expected to be deferred to a later date.