Two men have been granted conditional bail after being charged with spying for China.
Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and co-defendant Christopher Berry were charged under the Official Secrets Act after a counterterrorism investigation.
The men appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday but were not required to enter any pleas to the charge.
It is alleged that between December 2021 and February 2023, the men obtained, recorded and published information “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” and which could be “directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.
Both men were arrested in March last year and have since been on police bail while the investigation continued.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted both men conditional bail, which in Cash’s case included not contacting MPs or entering the parliamentary estate.
Cash was told he was permitted to contact his local MP on constituency matters.
China has dismissed the charges as “self-staged political farce”.
Both defendants will appear at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on 10 May.
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