Intelligence activities | In the United States, four black nationalists are accused of conspiring in favor of Russia

Foreign countries|Intelligence activity

Stateside four US members of the black nationalism movement have been indicted for working for the Russian intelligence service (FSB). The charges relate to influencing the US election.

The accused are the founder of the American African Socialist People’s Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement Omali Yeshitela and three other members of the movement. Yeshitela and two others are accused of acting as unregistered agents of the Russian state, which can result in a maximum of five years in prison. All four are accused of conspiring in favor of Russia, which can result in up to 10 years in prison.

of the United States Ministry of Justice also accused are three Russian citizens, two of whom are FSB agents in Russia. The third accused Russian lived in the United States but worked for FSB agents, according to the indictment.

“Russian foreign intelligence has allegedly used the first amendment of our constitution as a weapon [sananvapauden] rights that Russia does not grant to its own citizens, in order to divide the American people and interfere in the elections in the United States”, says the lawyer of the National Security Department of the Ministry of Justice in the indictment Matthew Olsen.

Accusation four Americans accepted money and other support from the Russians as part of an operation to spread Russian views on politics, the war in Ukraine and other issues through the black nationalism movement.

According to the indictment, as part of the project, Russia sought to influence local elections in Florida in 2017 and 2019 and the 2020 presidential election in the United States. Last year, black nationalists were said to have received money from the Russians to promote Russia’s cause when talking about the war in Ukraine.

According to the US Department of Justice, the US people involved in the scheme knew that their contact person was working for the Russian state.

Black nationalism is an American political movement that has sought to improve the status of the black population, among other things, with means borrowed from socialism and Marxism. The APSP party, founded in 1972, represents pan-Africanism, which emphasizes the unity of African nations.