UK seeks extradition of Berlin spy suspect

THE Government is seeking to extradite a suspected Russian spy who worked at the British embassy in Berlin.

The German authorities said yesterday they had received a request to approve the transfer of David Smith, who was arrested in August on charges of selling information to Russian intelligence.

Mr Smith, a former junior airman in the RAF, who was contracted as a security guard at the embassy, is believed to have offered the Russians a list of people entering and leaving the building.

He was said to have acted out of ideological sympathy with Russia.

Pictures taken at his flat after his arrest showed he owned a giant Russian flag and a collection of Soviet military caps. He also owned a copy of a book by a former Russian culture minister aiming to “dispel myths” about the country.

Marc Boehme, the Brandenburg state prosecutor, was unable to say how long it might take to consider the extradition request. Mr Smith opposes the move, according to German media.

Andrei Soldatov, a leading expert on Russian intelligence, said in August that

Mr Smith was likely a “walk-in” agent because Russian intelligence has largely been relying on people offering information rather than cultivating its own sources. “Things that were possible in the Thirties don’t exist any more,” he said. “The job of Russian intelligence staff at embassies abroad has mostly been about sitting and waiting for those people to show up.”

Mr Smith raised suspicion of intelligence services by going an unusually long time without withdrawing money from his bank account or making payments by card.