Security guard at US embassy in Oslo arrested for espionage

22/11/2024 6:04

        A security guard working at the
        U.S. embassy in Norway has been arrested on suspicion of
        espionage on behalf of Russia and Iran, a Norwegian security
        police official said on Thursday.
        
        The man, a Norwegian citizen in his 20s, was arrested at his
        home on Wednesday, police said. On Thursday, a court ruled he
        could be detained for an initial four weeks, with the first week
        in isolation, while police investigate.
        
        "The accused man was an employee, a security guard, at the
        U.S. embassy in Oslo," Thomas Blom, a lawyer for the security
        police service PST, told reporters.
        
        The man was cooperating and talking to officers, Blom said,
        adding that a "large" amount of digital material had been
        confiscated.
        
        "We have just scraped the top and we are working our way
        through it," said Blom.
        
        The man's lawyer, John Christian Elden, said 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.
        
        "Further investigation will show whether he is guilty of a
        crime or not."