LONDON (Reuters) – British police said on Tuesday they arrested two Romanian men over the stabbing of a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London in March.
Pouria Zeraati, a British-Iranian journalist who works for Iran International, sustained leg injuries in the attack near his home in Wimbledon, southwest London.
Counter-terrorism police led the investigation over concerns he had been targeted because of his work at the television news network, which is critical of Iran’s government.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said earlier this month that Nandito Badea, 19, and George Stana, 23, had been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and wounding.
London’s Metropolitan (Met) Police said the two men were taken into custody at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday after they arrived on a flight from Romania. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Dec. 18, the police said.
They had previously been detained by Romanian authorities on Dec. 4 and were returned to the UK by a national extradition unit.
British police, security officials and politicians have issued warnings about what they say is Iran’s growing use of criminal proxies to carry out attacks abroad. Iran rejects those accusations.
“This has been a long-running investigation and I am pleased we have reached a point where two men have now been charged and will face prosecution here in the UK,” said Helen Flanagan from the Met’s counter-terrorism command.
Flanagan added: “Now that criminal proceedings are fully active here in the UK, I continue to ask people not speculate about the case or motivation so that the criminal justice process can run its course.”
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
