The State Attorney suspects that a 38-year old Sudanese man passed on information to Sudan's embassy about Sudanese refugees who lived in Norway, which may have put them in danger.
"Charges have been laid for what we call refugee espionage," says state attorney Petter Mandt to NRK. "He is accused of having pretended to be a refugee himself in order to collect information about other refugees here in Norway," Mandt explains.
The man was first arrested in October 2012, at his apartment in Trondheim. He originally came to Norway in 2004, holds a permanent residency and is working full-time.
The charges that have been laid include the collection of people's identity and their personal relationships; who took part in which demonstrations against the Sudanese authorities, who attended political meetings, and who were members of various associations for Sudanese refugees.
The state attorney thinks that the man allegedly was paid to convey the information he collected to Sudanese authorities. "We are concerned that this may pose a threat to the people involved, either in Norway or in their home country."
Mandt does not want to say whether they suspect that the man came to Norway as a spy, or whether he was recruited for the job once he arrived. "We treat this as any other criminal proceeding, and will call the witnesses that we need," Mandt says.
The Sudanese Embassy say they are pleased that there will be a fair trial, and that they have trust in the Norwegian Court of Justice.
The 38-year-old's defense attorney, John Christian Elden, informs NRK that the man claims to be non-guilty. "He maintains that he is not a spy, and is looking forward to tell his version of the story in court," Elden says.
(NRK)
Julie Ryland
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