A Russian citizen (51) is charged with illegal surveilance and intelligence activities in Norway after a seminar at Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget), reports Norwegian Police Intelligence Service (PST).
The man’s defender confirms that electronic equipment has been seized, according to VG. The man was arrested at Oslo Gardermoen airport on Friday evening and taken to Oslo District Court on Saturday.
The man has been charged with violation of section 121 of the Criminal Code, which regulates illegal intelligence activities.
Defendant Hege Kristine Aakre tells VG that the man, who is a Russian citizen without affiliation with Norway,claims there is a misunderstanding and that he is working with the police to solve the misunderstandings.
Suspicious behaviour during the seminar
The parliamentary director Marianne Andreassen informs NTB that there was a seminar at Stortinget on Thursday and Friday. It was an interparliamentary event organized by ECPRD, the European Center for Parlimanetary Research and Documentation.
Stortinget hosted this year’s seminar about digitization with the participation of 79 administrative staff in different parliaments. In total, there were participants from 34 countries.
PST was contacted about suspicious behavior from one of the participants according to NTB. The man was arrested on the spot.
