A Norwegian man who worked as a security guard at the US Embassy in Oslo has now been indicted on charges of “aggravated” gathering of information at the embassy that he delivered to Russian and Iranian intelligence personnel. He’s charged with handing over the information at meetings in Serbia, Turkey and Norway.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Wednesday (external link, in Norwegian) that the indictment handed down from state prosecutors in Oslo, is considered unique. It marks the first time prosecutors are testing regulations around information-gathering. The defendant has acknowledged gathering the information and sharing it with foreign states, but denies being guilty of espionage.
He initially faced up to 10 years in prison on the initial charges filed late last year, but he now faces up to 21 years (Norway’s longest prison term) under the new and what one prosecutor called “seldom” indictment.
The defendant, who has not been publicly identified in keeping with Norwegian press tradition, is a man in his late 20s who was a student at the University of Tromsø’s UiT Arctic campus in Kirkenes, located close to Norway’s border to Russia. He also owned a small security guard service in Oslo, through which he was hired by the embassy.
“This creates unease,” UiT president Dag Rune Olsen told NRK after the man’s arrest in Oslo late last year. It’s not the first time alleged spies for Russia have been tied to the university. The Kirkenes-based online news service The Barents Observer (external link) had broken the news about the new connection to UiT, reporting that the young man had participated in at least two local sessions of UiT’s bachelor’s degree program in security and preparedness. Russia also has a consulate in Kirkenes in addition to its own embassy in Oslo.
“The most important thing has been to cooperate with PST (Norway’s domestic police intelligence agency) and look after the interests of other students who have had contact with this person,” Olsen told NRK. The Barents Observer has reported that he was suspected of violating both Section 122 of the Penal Code, “aggravated intelligence-gathering activity target state secrets,” and Section 126: “Other unlawful intelligence-gathering.” He thus risks the longer prison term.
His defense attorneys at the Elden legal firm in Oslo repeated on Wednesday that their client acknowledges the “facts” gathered in his case, but denies being guilty of espionage.
NRK reported that according to the new indictment, he had collected a list of diplomatic couriers at the US Embassy who had access to a “limited” degree of information. He also turned over the names, addresses, telephone numbers and vehicle information of embassy employees and diplomats, along with their families. He further passed on the employees’ roles at the embassy in addition to names of those visiting the embassy, security routines at the embassy, drawings of the embassy’s layout and photos of the embassy’s garage and communications equipment.
PST officials investigating the case claim that can raise the risks faced by embassy personnel. Officials believe the US’ close relationship with Israel and the war in Gaza prompted the defendant to contact Russian and Iranian intelligence. He was allegedly paid EUR 10,000 by Russian authorities for information handed over in Norway and Serbia, while Iranian authorities allegedly paid him BTC 0.17 (around NOK 100,000) for information delivered in Oslo and in Turkey.
The defendant has also landed in trouble with tax authorities in Norway, who claim such payments have not been reported on his Norwegian tax returns. Nor had he reported income paid by the US Embassy for his security guard services, according to NRK.
The court case against him is due to begin in late August in the Oslo County Court. He has reportedly cooperated with those leading the Norwegian investigation. He has been identified by PST as a “Russian agent” but his defense attorneys have also claimed that he has contributed “valuable information” regarding the case, Norwegian security concerns and general preventive measure against espionage. The US Embassy has been reluctant to comment on the case to Norwegian media, but NRK has reported that embassy officials have asked for the appointment of their own “victim’s” legal counsel in the case.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
