OSLO, Norway — A former security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Norway has been indicted by prosecutors there on suspicion of espionage after he allegedly spied for Russia and Iran, state broadcaster NRK said Wednesday.
The Norwegian man, whose name has not been made public, was arrested last November on suspicion of having damaged national security. He is accused of handing over details about the embassy’s diplomats, its floor plans and security routines, among other things, NRK reported.
His defense attorney, Inger Zadig, said her client acknowledges the indictment’s facts but denies any criminal guilt.
“At its core, this case concerns legal interpretation — specifically, whether, and to what extent, the information in question was ‘classified’ under the law, and whether it was capable of harming fundamental national interests,” she wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “If not, then sharing the information is not a criminal offense. Our client did not hold a security clearance, and his access to information that could threaten vital national interests was more or less non-existent. These issues will be thoroughly addressed in court.”
The broadcaster reported that America’s ties to Israel and the war in Gaza prompted the man to contact Russia and Iran.
The defendant faces up to 21 years in prison, NRK reported.
The U.S. Embassy and the prosecutor’s office did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.
At the time of his arrest, the man had been studying for a bachelor’s degree in security and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University, UiT.
It is a second such case at UiT in recent years, according to NRK.
One of the people the West swapped with Russia in a major prisoner exchange last year was a UiT guest researcher who claimed to be a Brazilian named José Assis Giammaria, arrested on espionage allegations in 2022. The police revealed him to be Russian, Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin.
Norway has a 198-kilometer (123-mile) long border with Russia in the Arctic. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has heavily restricted entry for Russian nationals.
Last year, the Norwegian government said it was considering a plan to build a fence along all or part of its border with Russia.