A court in Oslo found a former U.S. Embassy guard in Norway guilty of spying for Russia and Iran on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, BTA reported.
The 28-year-old Norwegian, whose name was not released, was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison. He admitted the facts of the case but denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said the convict passed on information about diplomats at the embassy, floor plans and security procedures, among other things. According to Norwegian state broadcaster NRK, what prompted the man to turn to Russia and Iran was the US's ties with Israel and the war in Gaza.
The Norwegian's defense said the verdict raised many questions about what constitutes espionage under Norwegian law.
"He lied to agents from foreign countries that he had access to classified information and exaggerated his own role," his lawyer said in a statement. "He had almost as much access as a janitor at the embassy." The information he shared is useless and neither by itself nor together with any other can harm individuals or the security interests of any country," the statement further states.
The defendant's defense also said that it was currently considering whether to appeal the verdict, and the prosecution said that it was also considering whether to do so, as it had requested a harsher sentence.
The convicted Norwegian was studying for a bachelor's degree in "Security and Combat Readiness" at the Norwegian Arctic University (UiT).
This is the second such case related to the educational institution in question in recent years, NRK notes. Among those swapped by the West last year in the largest prisoner swap with Russia since the Cold War was a visiting researcher at the Arctic University posing as a Brazilian named José Assis Jamaria, who was arrested by police in Norway on espionage charges in 2022.
Police revealed that he was actually a Russian named Mikhail Valerievich Mikushin, the AP recalls.