Norway

Review of spy case considered

Arne Treholt

Justice Minister Knut Storberget says that in view of several recent allegations that evidence in the Treholt spy case were fabricated, the Goverment should consider making its own review of the case.

- The case is very serious, and I asume that the prosecuting authority will do all it can to get to the bottom of this, Storberget says to NRK.

The last development in the case came Monday, when a former photo-shop owner claimed to Aftenposten that in the 1980s, a Police Special Branch officer had asked him to manipulate photos to make it appear that former diplomat Arne Treholt was talking to the KGB's chief in Norway at the time. 

Two weeks ago, the author of a new book quotes police sources saying that the police fabricated photographic evidence used in the trial of former Norwegian diplomat Arne Treholt, who in 1985 was sentenced for spying. The author claims that a picture allegedly showing Treholt's briefcase with substantial sums of money in it had been fabricatded.

This evidence was central when Treholt was found guilty of spying for the former Soviet Union and had received payment.

Treholt was arrested in January 1984, as he was on his way to a meeting with Russian KB general Gennadij Titov in Vienna.

Treholt, a profiled Labour Party politician and trusted diplomat, always denied charges he spied for the former Soviet Union and Iraq.

However, he was convicted of high treason and espionage and in 1985 sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was pardoned for health reason in 1992, and after living in Russia for a time, and at the age of 67 he now lives in Cyprus.

A retired policeman has since denied the accusations made in the book.

Last Saturday a former Special Branch surveillance officer claimed that Treholt's apartment was under around-the-clock video surveillance for around 18 months.

Source: NRK/Aftenposten/Norway Post