‘Double standards’: Lawyer for accused Russian spy couple slams AFP

A lawyer for a Russian-born couple who are the first in Australia to be charged with espionage offences, has criticised the Federal Police for “double standards”.

Igor and Kira Korolev. Pic: Facebook

A lawyer for a Russian-born couple who are the first in Australia to be charged with espionage offences, has criticised the Federal Police for “double standards”.

Igor Korolev, 62, and Kira Korolev, 40, are accused of spying for Russia between December 2022 and their arrest by Australian Federal Police officers on July 11 this year.

They lived in an Everton Park unit in Brisbane’s north and Mrs Korolev was an information systems technician for the Australian Defence Force, holding the rank of Private.

They remain behind bars and have not applied for bail to date.

On Monday, the AFP and Department of Defence applied to suppress certain pieces of information contained within the prosecution’s brief of evidence, the first part of which is due to be disclosed to the defendants’ lawyers on Tuesday.

Kira Korolev.

During a hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court, solicitor Robert Miles of the Sydney firm Equius Legal, representing Mrs Korolev, did not oppose the suppression order being made, but took a swipe at the AFP for wanting to do so.

“We note that when my client was first charged, the AFP went public with all of the details of the charges and my client’s address and other personal details, which were widely circulated, in fact, relatives of my client read about it in the Washington Post,” Mr Miles said.

“So we’re talking about double standards here and a certain irony.”

Magistrate Louise Shephard wasn’t convinced.

“This is about giving [the Department of] Defence time to go through material to identify the various documents in terms of classifications and risk involved,” she said.

Barrister Dylan Kerr, acting for the AFP Commissioner and Secretary of the Department of Defence, said the three new suppression orders related to “national security concerns”.

The proposed suppression orders were not opposed by legal representatives acting for Mr and Mrs Korolev, or the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Igor Korolev.

Magistrate Shephard granted the proposed orders on Monday.

The case is approaching the committal stage to decide whether or not it proceeds to trial, and will return to Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday for a committal mention.

Mr and Mrs Korolev were not brought into court from prison for Monday’s proceeding, and they are not required to appear in person on Friday either.