Russian accused of spying can stay in Britain

Russian accused of spying can stay in Britain

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Katia Zatuliveter leaves an Immigration Appeals hearing in London October 19, 2011. AFP photo

A Russian woman accused of spying for Moscow while working as a researcher for a British lawmaker on Tuesday won her appeal to remain in Britain after insisting she was innocent.

Katia Zatuliveter, 26, convinced the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) that she was not liaising with Russian intelligence services while working for Mike Hancock, a 65-year-old MP with whom she had an affair.

Britain wanted to deport her on the grounds that her presence was a danger to national security.

Hancock, the member of parliament for Portsmouth South on England's south coast, the city where the Royal Navy is based, was a member of parliament's defence select committee, which scrutinises government defence policy and expenditure.