Those charged with espionage are believed to have chatted with “leading officer in China” – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country

On Tuesday, the Norwegian in his 30s, who is charged with attempted serious intelligence activities, was remanded in custody for four new weeks. PST said ahead of the imprisonment meeting that they believe the suspicion against the Norwegian has been strengthened. The man’s defender, Marius Dietrichson, says that his client has not run an intelligence business, but a center that runs political analyses. Dietrichson says his client in this work has had contact with various actors and states, and by that means he has only done his job. In the imprisonment order, it appears that the court believes the man can still be suspected of attempted serious intelligence activities, even if they believe the grounds for suspicion are not particularly strong. Since the man was arrested at Oslo Airport on Monday 1 July, new elements have also emerged in the case, according to the ruling. “Leading officer in China” The man was detained for the first time on Tuesday 2 July. Since then, the Police Security Service (PST) has conducted several witness interviews and made a large amount of seizures. At the same time, the Norwegian accused of spying has not wanted to be questioned, senior advisor Eirik Veum in PST has previously confirmed to news. In the recent ruling, it is stated that a new report has been produced from 25 July. According to the ruling, it appears from the report that “a chat was found in the seizure between the accused and what is believed to be a guidance officer in China”. A lead officer is the person in an intelligence service who is responsible for following up on agents. In the same report, it appears that “a chat has been found that appears to be a mission dialogue”. Defense attorney Dietrichson will not go into the content of the ruling. – I am prevented from giving my views on this, says Dietrichson to news. More witness interviews needed Although the PST has already conducted several interviews of witnesses, there is still a lot of work to be done, the ruling states: “The police currently do not have a sufficient overview of all who may be relevant witnesses in the case because relevant witnesses appear in the digital seizure as the police process the prepared material. The prosecutor stated that so far there are around 20 witnesses in the case that the police have not yet questioned.” PST does not wish to comment on the content of the imprisonment order. Published 30.07.2024, at 17.22 Updated 30.07.2024, at 17.34



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