A court in Oslo convicted a 28-year-old Norwegian man of spying for Russia and Iran while working as a security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Norway. The court sentenced him to three years and seven months in prison.
Prosecutors said the man gave foreign agents embassy floor plans, security routines, and details about diplomats, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The man admitted to the facts in the indictment but denied committing any crime.
NRK reported that his anger over U.S. ties to Israel and the war in Gaza motivated him to contact both Russia and Iran.
Defence Disputes Severity of Espionage Claims
The man’s defence lawyers argued that the case raises uncertainty about what counts as espionage under Norwegian law.
“He exaggerated his role and lied about having clearance,” said attorney Inger Zadig from Elden Law Firm.
Zadig claimed the defendant had access similar to a janitor at the embassy and that the shared information was useless.
“The data he shared could not harm individuals or any nation’s security,” she said.
The court convicted the man on five espionage-related charges but acquitted him of gross corruption. His lawyers are now considering an appeal, while prosecutor Carl Fredrik Fari said his team may also appeal because they had sought over six years in prison.
Espionage Cases Rise Amid Tensions with Russia
Police arrested the man last November while he was studying security and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University (UiT). NRK noted that this is the second espionage case involving a UiT student in recent years.
In a separate case, Western nations swapped a UiT guest researcher accused of spying for Russia in a major prisoner exchange last year. The man had posed as a Brazilian named José Assis Giammaria, but investigators later identified him as Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin, a Russian national.
Norway shares a 198-kilometer Arctic border with Russia and has tightened entry restrictions on Russian citizens since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Norwegian government is now considering building a fence along all or part of the frontier to increase border security.
