A Russian journalist believes the level of surveillance
is worse in ‘Big Brother Britain’ than it was
in Russia during the Soviet era.
Irada Zeinalova, who is based in London, said she felt she
was being constantly spied on by security cameras.
She highlighted how in the UK the level of monitoring is such
that even rubbish bins have computer chips fitted so councils
can check what householders are throwing out.
‘Security has got absurd,’ she said. ‘I
don’t like that level of intrusion into my private life.
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‘London is a Big Brother city. It is all watched by
cameras. Even in the days of the USSR you couldn’t imagine
such a number of cameras or observers. Your moves are even
monitored by your bus tickets. There are CCTV cameras on every
building and computer chips on the rubbish bins.
‘They can tell a lot about your life by studying your
rubbish bin. All aspects of your life are plainly visible
here.’
Mrs Zeinalova, 37, an award-winning correspondent in London
for the Kremlin-controlled Moscow TV station Channel One,
accepted that some Russian journalists in London face close
monitoring by British counter-intelligence.
One, from the Vesti TV programme, ‘had a full-scale
spying operation on him. It’s a normal thing here’.
