Austrian Denies Filming Iranian TV Channel in London for ‘Hostile Reconnaissance’

An Austrian national, who is of Chechen origin, has gone on trial accused of collecting information for terrorist purposes after filming an Iranian TV channel.

Demonstrators at Trafalgar Square in London on Jan. 8, 2023. Aaron Chown/PA

An Austrian citizen who was spotted filming the outside of a London-based television channel critical of the Iranian government may have been acting on behalf of a group “preparing to attack,” a jury at the Old Bailey has been told.

Magomed-Husein Dovtaev, 31, denies collecting information for a person likely preparing an act of terrorism.