The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has arrested a Sudanese man at his home in Trondheim, charging him with spying on refugees from Sudan.
The man will be transported to Oslo after being questioned by police, and will be subject to police custody, PST department head Jan Glent informs.
The police believe the man is guilty of collecting information about refugees from Sudan who live in Norway, and that he has shared this information with Sudan authorities.
"As far as we know, this is the first arrest that has been made for refugee espionage in Norway since the 1970s," Says Martin Bernsen, Information Chief at the PST.
The police's security service defines refugee espionage as foreign intelligence operations directed at foreigners in Norway. The goal with this kind of activity is usually to undermine, neutralize or eliminate any political opposition through monitoring, threatening or controlling their activities abroad.
The accused, a 38-year-old man, claims he is innocent, and is not yet represented by a lawyer. He came to Norway in 2004 as a refugee, and now has a permanent residency and full-time employment.
According to the PST the man has presented himself as a refugee from Sudan to fellow citizens, but the police think that his real objective was to spy on them on behalf of the Sudan government through a contact person at the Sudan Embassy.
The Ministry of Foreign affairs has urged the Sudan Embassy to send the diplomat who is allegedly involved back home as soon as possible. The embassy, however, deny that they have been involved in any espionage.
"Why would we be interested in this type of information?" the ambassador, Onoor Ahmed, asks. He explains that at this point the embassy will try to find out who has been arrested and whether he needs their assistance in any way.
(NRK)
Julie Ryland
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