A Norwegian citizen working as a security guard at the US embassy in Norway has been arrested and detained over alleged co-operation with foreign intelligence services.
The 20-year-old was taken into custody on November 20, suspected of engaging in espionage for Russia and Iran.
He was arrested at his residence and the court subsequently mandated that he remain in custody for four weeks. During the first week, he will be kept in solitary confinement while the case is being investigated.
“The accused man was an employee, a security guard, at the US embassy in Oslo,” Thomas Blom, a lawyer for the security police service PST, told reporters.
Blom stated that a “large” amount of digital material had been seized and that the individual was assisting officers.
“We have just scraped the top and we are working our way through it,” Blom said.
John Christian Elden, the lawyer for the security guard, admitted his client had been in contact with Russian and Iranian intelligence officers.
“He has explained himself about his contact with intelligence agents from Russia and Iran but it is unclear whether he has had secret information that would mean that anti-espionage laws could be used against him,” Elden told Reuters.
Although he has consented to stay in detention for four weeks, the suspect has denied the charges. It will be up to the prosecution to demonstrate whether the data he collected broke the law.
“Further investigation will show whether he is guilty of a crime or not.”
Finland will sign a defence co-operation agreement with the US to grant the US military broad access across the Nordic country to the vicinity of its long border with Russia, its government has said. https://t.co/ME4NI9caml
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 14, 2023
RBC Ukraine reported that, according to preliminary assessments, the man may allegedly have disclosed material that could jeopardise US security interests, without giving specifics regarding the particular data that was sent and what effect this might have had.
Investigators are said to have discovered that the business that was registered in the suspect’s name was not making any money at the time of his arrest. He reportedly made about 200,000 Norwegian kroner, or around €20,000, in 2022.
If found guilty of acquiring information that could jeopardise the security of other countries, the security guard faces up to 10 years in prison.
He is also suspected of committing other crimes that might jeopardise the interests of third parties. The maximum sentence for such is three years in prison.
In December 2023, Norwegian intelligence services caught a Russian spy posing as a Brazilian academic and in May 2024, Oslo announced it would further restrict access for Russian tourists due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, blocking almost all entry.
Norway is part of NATO and shares a land border of almost 200km with Russia.
The hack left workers in the affected ministries without access to a variety of services, including email, on their mobile phones. https://t.co/pZsyJi4oX8
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 25, 2023
