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A British court has ruled that evidence shows that the attack on Iran International journalist was carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime...
Two Romanian nationals have been sentenced to prison in the United Kingdom for taking part in a planned knife attack on Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, with the court finding that evidence shows the attack was carried out for the benefit of the Iranian regime.
According to The Guardian, Pouria Zeraati, a journalist for the Persian-language channel Iran International, known for his critical stance towards the authorities in Tehran, was attacked on March 29, 2024 outside his apartment in Wimbledon, London. He was stabbed three times in the thigh and seriously injured.
The Old Bailey court on Friday sentenced 25-year-old George Stana to 12 years in prison and 21-year-old Nandito Badea to 8 years in prison, after both were found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Judge Cheema-Grubb stated that the evidence "overwhelmingly demonstrates" that the attack was organized in the name and for the benefit of a foreign power, referring to the Islamic Republic of Iran. She noted that Zeraati was a well-known critic of the Iranian regime and had previously received threats, as had members of his family.
According to the prosecution, the attack was planned in advance, preceded by surveillance of the target, and ordered by a third party acting on behalf of the Iranian state.
Prosecutors said Badea and another Romanian citizen, David Andrei, who is still in Romania and was not part of the trial, approached the journalist and one of them stabbed him several times. Meanwhile, Stana waited in a Mazda vehicle to drive them away from the scene. The vehicle had been filmed earlier by security cameras during the surveillance phase of the area.
The court heard that Badea and Andrei had gone to Zeraati's apartment eight times on five separate dates and had travelled to Britain specifically to carry out the attack. According to the prosecution, the planning had begun more than a year before the event.
In his victim statement, Zeraati said the attack had left him "scared and insecure", forcing him to move outside the UK for fear of further attacks.
During the process, it was revealed that Iran International, headquartered in London, had been declared a terrorist organization by Iranian authorities. Zeraati was one of the channel's most prominent figures, and a billboard with his photo and the caption: "Wanted: dead or alive" had appeared in Tehran.
The defense argued that Stana was functionally illiterate and unaware of political developments, so he could not have known that he was acting in the interests of Iran. On the other hand, Badea's lawyer claimed that the court could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his client was the person who stabbed the journalist.
After the decision was announced, the head of protective security operations at the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Unit in London, Kris Wright, stated that the case shows the increasing use of third parties by hostile states to carry out attacks on British soil, but stressed that the authorities would continue to identify and prosecute all those involved.
Both defendants had pleaded not guilty during the trial.
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