Katia Zatuliveter ?Russian spy

MP Mike Hancock denies assistant is Russian spy

Katia Zatuliveter, pictured at a Black Sea holiday resort in 2002, was 'arrested on MI5 orders'

A Russian working as a parliamentary aide to a British MP has been taken into detention to face deportation proceedings amid claims she is a spy.

According to the Sunday Times, Katia Zatuliveter, 24, was arrested on the orders of MI5 over espionage claims.
She has been working for Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock, who said she had done nothing wrong and would appeal.
The Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases, nor would it confirm deportation moves.
But a security source is said to have told the Sunday Times that Ms Zatuliveter's presence was not "conducive to national security", and the intention was to "show her the door".
It is believed to be the first time since the end of the Cold War that someone working in Parliament has been accused of spying for the Russians, suggests the Sunday Times.

Mr Hancock says his aide has been taken into detention but has done nothing wrong

Mr Hancock said on Saturday night that Ms Zatuliveter was not a spy. He confirmed she was subject to a deportation order, which she would be appealing against.
He said she had done nothing wrong and he was sure she would be vindicated.
Mr Hancock is MP for Portsmouth South, a city which has a large naval base. He also sits on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.
Police interviews BBC South political editor Peter Henley said Ms Zatuliveter was first stopped coming back to the UK from a holiday in Croatia during the summer.
He said she had been in the UK for a long time, had completed a masters degree at Bradford University and had been employed by Mr Hancock for two and a half years.
"Throughout that time she's been closely working with the MP but he says there is no doubt whatsoever that she was absolutely straightforward and he dealt with her like any other of his staff," he said.
"After she was arrested coming back through Heathrow, she has been interviewed by the police several times. She had actually left Mike Hancock's employment but because of that situation, he kept her on and kept her working.
"But she could have gone back to the Caucasus where she lives any time."
Shadow Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said vetting procedures for those applying to work in the Commons might have to be looked at.
She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "It is important to make sure those are strong enough and secure enough and I'm sure that depending on what happens with this individual case, if there do turn out to have been breaches in security, then obviously the wider security in Parliament would be to be looked at."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11920665