A Chinese man has become the latest to be charged with espionage by Norway’s police intelligence agency PST, after a Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month, both in Northern Norway. The latest arrest was made after the man was found in a bunker near the military air station in Bodø.
Prosecutor Kathrine Tonstad told state broadcaster NRK that they have no information indicating a connection between the man arrested in Bodø and the woman arrested on the northern island of Andøya. She has since been ordered held in custody for at least four weeks while police continue their investigation.
The 29-year-old woman from China and two others outside Norway are all suspected of planning to set up a 22-ton satellite receiver to intercept data that could include everything from navigation signals, voice and data communication, photos, videos, environmental and weather information. Data from military satellites is encrypted, but spies can still benefit from it.
Newspaper Aftenposten has reported that the woman was tied to the purchase of a house on Andøya and the leasing of it at an unusually high rental rate through a company based in Singapore. The satellite receiver was due to be delivered to the house, but it’s now in the possession of police in Oslo, where it arrived by ship.
Meanwhile, in another PST operation in Bodø, police have arrested a 46-year-old man from China and charged him with efforts to carry out intelligence operations against state secrets. He was quickly ordered held in police custody by the Salten and Lofoten District Court on Norway’s national day, the 17th of May, while the rest of the country was out celebrating.
The court ordered him held for at least four weeks, the first two in full isolation. He has denied the espionage charges against him.
Police claim he’d been operating from a bunker on the fringe of the airport in Bodø that handles both commercial and military aviation. The military portion includes NATO’s regional aviation operations center. “Our investigation will try to uncover whether the suspect has tried to collect information tied to the military portion of the Bodø airport, and if so, what his goals were,” prosecutor Tonstad tol NRK. She said the man had offered a clarification of his activity and police plan more questioning.
He also denies any illegal activity. His defense attorney Tor Haug said his client had been living in a house in Bodø and offered an explanation of what he was doing in the bunker, “but I can’t go into more detail about that.” Haug said his client claims he’d been visiting Norway as a tourist.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
