A BBC investigation has revealed that three of the Bulgarians found guilty in March of participating in a Russian spy network in the United Kingdom attended an event in the House of Commons back in May 2016.
We are talking about Orlin Rusev, Biser Dzhambazov and Catherine Ivanova, who were among the participants in a Brexit debate held in a hall of the Palace of Westminster. Photos from the event, found on social media and analyzed by the BBC, show the three alongside representatives of European political parties.
The presence of Rusev and Dzhambazov has been confirmed by people who knew them at the time, and Ivanova is on an official list of attendees.
The event was organized with the support of the then MP for West Ham Lynn Brown, who was later nominated as a life member of the House of Lords by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Baroness Brown of Silvertown told the BBC that she had no memory of the event and did not believe she had communicated with the three Bulgarians. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by the organizers or other participants.
In March this year, Catherine Ivanova was found guilty, along with Tihomir Ivanchev and Vanya Gaberova, of participating in activities in the service of Russian services between August 2020 and February 2023. The group's leader Orlin Rusev and Biser Dzhambazov had already pleaded guilty, as had the third defendant, Ivan Stoyanov.
The court is expected to pronounce the verdicts of the six defendants by the end of this week.