A 25-year-old foreign student has been arrested in Norway on suspicion of espionage, including the illegal use of technical eavesdropping devices, according to La Presse. Norway's national security agency, known by its acronym PST, informed Norwegian media that the man, who was arrested on Friday, was charged in court this Sunday with espionage and intelligence operations against the Nordic country. The man's identity and nationality have not been revealed, and the man has declared not guilty in initial police interrogations. Norwegian authorities have not specified which country the man was allegedly spying for.
PST lawyer Thomas Blom quoted the media as saying that "we do not know exactly what we are dealing with. We are in a critical, initial and vulnerable phase of the investigation. The suspect is accused of using technical facilities for signals intelligence illegal". The police have confiscated a number of electronic data-carrying devices from the man, which the PST is currently investigating. The suspect is a student, but he is not enrolled in an educational institution in Norway, and has been living in the country for a relatively short time, according to the PST.
According to an arrest warrant cited by NRK, the suspect was allegedly detained while conducting illegal sign surveillance in a rental car near the office of the Norwegian prime minister and the defense ministry. According to a court decision, the man is remanded in custody for four weeks with a ban on receiving letters and visits. Security officials have stated that the suspect was not operating alone.
In previous assessments, the PST had identified Russia, China and North Korea as state actors that pose a significant threat to the intelligence of Norway, a nation of 5.4 million people.
