21 June 2013

Stella Rimington "spy on neighbour" criticized on Voice of Russia

Stella Rimington has been severely criticized today (Tony Holland interview) and in a recent article on the Voice of Russia radio station, after she was quoted as saying it would be a good idea for neighbours to spy on each other. This was a reaction to the murder of the soldier Lee Rigby, but it has brought attention back to the role of Rimington as the past Director of MI5 and how she had herself behaved during her time with the Security Service.

It is my honest belief that Stella Rimington gave false evidence during my trial in 1993. It was her testimony in Court - such as her claim that my innocent holiday in Oporto in 1977 was cover for meeting a Russian KGB officer - which led the jury to convict me. In reality she had to testify under oath that MI5 had no evidence that I had met Viktor Oshchenko, however, that was the Prosecution case she was supporting. By exaggerating and making circumstantial evidence appear to be incriminating, Rimington twisted out a story that gave the impression to the jury that it was all true.

How ironic that Rimington now makes a living out of telling fictional stories about imaginary spies. Perhaps my case was good training for her in this skill at inventing characters and plots to entertain a reader?