Treholt died in Moscow, reports Aftenposten. In 1985, Treholt was sentenced to 20 years in prison for spying for the Soviet Union and Iraq. He was pardoned in 1992 by the then Brundtland government. Arne Treholt leaves behind a son and two grandchildren. After his release from prison, Treholt has lived in Cyprus and Moscow, among other places. From left: Arne Treholt and the Russians Gennadij Titov and Aleksandr Lopatin in Vienna on 20 August 1983. The picture was taken covertly by Norwegian surveillance police. Photo: The police / NTB scanpix Had spied for a number of years According to the verdict, Treholt had spied for the Soviet Union when he was arrested. He had been monitored by Norwegian and American police for several years before he was arrested. When he served at the Norwegian UN delegation in New York in the early 1980s, agents from the FBI moved into the apartment next door. He was arrested at Fornebu airport the year before, on 20 January 1984. He was then on his way to Vienna to meet officers from the Soviet spy organization KGB. Arne Treholt conferring with one of his defenders, Andreas Arntzen, during the trial in 1985. Photo: Erik Thorberg / NTB Dramatic fate Arne Treholt had the most dramatic fate in recent Norwegian history. That’s what journalist and former editor of Aftenposten Harald Stanghelle says. – From being a political and diplomatic talent to receiving a sentence of 20 years in prison for espionage is a violent fall, says Stanghelle to news. Stanghelle is perhaps the journalist in Norway who has followed the Treholt case most closely. – He impressively managed to cope with the fall by fighting the sentence and building a new life for himself until he was pardoned in 1992, says Stanghelle. Denied guilt Arne Treholt lived in Cyprus for many years after he was released. Photo: Tore Meek / NTB In the first interrogations after he was arrested, Treholt went to great lengths to admit guilt. At the trial itself and later, he pleaded not guilty. Ever since 1984, he has denied having divulged information that could harm Norway’s security. Treholt claims that for large parts of the period he did not have access to such information. He believed instead that the contact with the Russians was part of his work as a diplomat. On 20 January 1984, the Labor Party politician and diplomat Arne Treholt was arrested at Fornebu airport and charged with espionage. The Treholt case is considered the biggest spy case in recent Norwegian history.
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Arne Treholt (80) has died – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
