Monday the man in his thirties who passes himself off as a Brazilian citizen arrested on his way to work at the University of Tromsøsuspected of being a Russian spy with a false identity.
The man is now accused of Article 121 of the Criminal Code – illegal intelligence that could harm fundamental national interests. He was also suspected of illegal intelligence that could harm the security interests of other states.
PST believes that the man is a so-called “illegal”. That is, a person who built an identity of a normal citizen, while silently working for foreign intelligence.
According to PST, the man pretended to be a Brazilian citizen, but in reality he is Russian and works for one of the Russian secret services.
NRK has been in contact with the man’s defender Thomas Hansen, who says he has not yet been informed of the indictment and will not comment on anything until confirmed.
Headmaster: He didn’t steal any information
UiT rector, Dag Rune Olsen, says the allegations concern the university’s environment.
– There is no doubt that data or information has been stolen that could harm our research. But what’s going to be challenging for us, and that can destroy our research, is that it can undermine the legitimacy of our professional environment, Olsen tells NRK.
Olsen states that the university does not have access to confidential material and information and that this type of outside business is not necessarily about acquiring this.
– It is about establishing networks, contacts, probing and perhaps even organizing a possible subsequent spying. We are taking note of the accusation, he says.
The visiting researcher must not have behaved suspiciously in a way that is visible to colleagues NRK has been in contact with so far.
– We assume that this means that the authorities have found sufficient evidence of what happened and that it is being treated correctly in the legal system, says Olsen of the indictment.
– What is it like to be a principal in such a case?
– There is reason to believe that we have to think differently than before to protect ourselves. We will have to come back to this when we know more about this topic. We have a good dialogue with PST and we are intensifying it, says the rector.
Deny criminal guilt
The visiting researcher at UiT was decided on Tuesday
Detaining is putting a person into custody, not as a punishment, but as a security measure taken by the authorities.
“data-term =” interned “> interned awaiting shipment from Norway. The man is therefore under house arrest as a security measure adopted by the authorities.
Nord-Troms and the Senja District Court indicated that there were concrete reasons for fear that the man would escape deportation and that his residence permit in Norway had been revoked.
Men did not challenge the court decision on detention.
Defense attorney Thomas Hansen said the man will agree to be expelled from Norway if decided.
The defendant previously denied guilt, according to his lawyer. The man is firmly convinced that he is not a Russian spy, but a Brazilian citizen who came to Norway to be a researcher at the university.
He worked on public safety and hybrid warfare
The man was a visiting researcher at UiT where he was part of the research group “The Gray Zone”.
The group addresses issues such as social security, preparedness and hybrid threats.
The project leader is security researcher Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, who told NRK earlier this week that the man himself contacted the university.
– He came to us for his interest in broader security issues in the north, he said.
According to Gjørv, the man followed the usual procedures for obtaining a place at the university. There is nothing abnormal in the way the man approached the university.
