Former Marion Council worker, Marina Sologub protests innocence: ‘I never was a spy’

Former Marion Council employee Marina Sologub has vowed to clear her name in an interview on Channel 9’s 60 Minutes.

Marina Sologub, the former Marion Council employee accused of being a spy, is vowing to clear her name.

In an interview on Channel 9’s 60 Minutes, the Irish citizen spoke from a Melbourne detention centre where she has been held since February after the Australian Intelligence and Security Organisation raised concerns about her Russian links.

The Kazakhstan-born mother-of-one, who is an ethnic Russian, was a space industry consultant.

The Advertiser is not suggesting any illegal activity or espionage, only that ASIO had raised concerns.

She has not been charged with any crimes in Australia and will challenge a deportation order at a tribunal hearing in July.

60 Minutes interview with accused spy Marina Sologub. Picture: NINE

In the interview, Ms Sologub repeatedly denied being involved in any foreign intelligence or espionage.

“I’m not guilty of anything,” she said, later saying: “I never worked for any spy and I never was a spy.”

Ms Sologub said she would prove her innocence even if she had to return to Ireland and get assistance from a human rights group.

When pressed, Ms Sologub agreed she had contact with a man with links to Russia, the identity of which 60 Minutes did not reveal.

She said she had worked with him and was friends with him on Facebook.

While she denied being his actual friend, Ms Sologub agreed she had contact with him between 2011-2014 to ask about her son attending a Russian language camp.

Ms Sologub’s husband was also interviewed and laughed when asked about the accusations against his wife, saying “it is false”.

“She is innocent,” he said, adding when questioned if he had asked his wife if she were a spy: “If she were involved I would know already.”

Ms Sologub said she was in trouble “just for speaking Russian”.

“No one in Ireland said ‘come to Australia to gather information here (in Australia),” she said.