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Former UK Marine Charged with Spying Found Dead in London

A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
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Former UK Marine Charged with Spying Found Dead in London

A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)

A former member of the UK's Royal Marines, bailed by a court last week over allegations of assisting Hong Kong's intelligence services in a Chinese-linked espionage case, has been found dead, British police said Tuesday.

Matthew Trickett, 37, was found dead in a park in Maidenhead, west of London, on Sunday following a report by a member of the public, Thames Valley Police said, according to AFP.

Trickett had more recently been employed as an immigration enforcement officer and private investigator, the UK's PA news agency reported.

He was formerly employed by the UK Border Force at Heathrow Airport, before joining Home Office Immigration Enforcement on February 21, 2024, PA said.

“An investigation is ongoing into the death, which is currently being treated as unexplained,” the police force said in a statement.

Trickett, from southeast England, was one of three men accused in the Hong Kong spy case.

The three suspects were arrested early this month. Trickett was then released on bail along with Chi Leung Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, pending their next court appearance, scheduled to take place on Friday.

Between December 20, 2023, and May 2, 2024, they are accused of agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.

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Indonesia Joins BRICS Bloc as Full Member

Staff worker stands behinds national flags of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India to tidy the flags ahead of a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian Province, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Staff worker stands behinds national flags of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India to tidy the flags ahead of a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian Province, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Indonesia Joins BRICS Bloc as Full Member

Staff worker stands behinds national flags of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India to tidy the flags ahead of a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian Province, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Staff worker stands behinds national flags of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India to tidy the flags ahead of a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian Province, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Brazil’s government, which holds the BRICS presidency in 2025, said on Monday evening that Indonesia will formally join the bloc of developing countries as a full member.
Indonesia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it welcomed the announcement and that “BRICS membership is a strategic way to increase collaboration and partnership with other developing nations.”

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, had previously expressed its desire to join the group as a means of strengthening emerging countries and furthering the interests of the so-called Global South.

Brazil, which holds the bloc's presidency in 2025, said in a statement that member states approved Indonesia's entry by consensus as part of an expansion push initially endorsed at the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

The South American nation noted that Jakarta's bid got the green light from the bloc in 2023 but the Southeast Asian country asked to join following the presidential election held last year. President Prabowo Subianto took office in October.

“Indonesia shares with the other members of the group support for the reform of global governance institutions, and contributes positively to the deepening of cooperation in the Global South,” the Brazilian government said.

China, the world’s second largest economy, “warmly welcomes and congratulates Indonesia” on joining the bloc, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

He described Indonesia as a “major developing country and an important force in the Global South” that will “make a positive contribution to the development of the BRICS mechanism.”

BRICS was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009, and South Africa was added in 2010.

Last year, the alliance expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members and a few others have expressed interest.

The organization was created as a counterweight to the Group of Seven, comprised of developed nations. Its name derives from an economic term used in the early 2000s to describe rising countries expected to dominate the global economy by 2050.