The Norwegian Economic Police („Ecocrime) announced last night that it has launched an investigation against former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, on suspicion of „aggravated corruption“.
The decision to investigate Jagland, who is also a former secretary general of the Council of Europe, is based on information revealed by recently released files related to the late American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reported.
“We believe there are good reasons to investigate, given that he held the positions of chairman of the Nobel Committee and secretary general of the Council of Europe during the period covered by the published documents“, said the director of “Ecocrim“ Pal Loset in a statement.
Jagland has not been charged with any crime and the investigation will, among other things, cover whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position.
The police have also requested that the immunity that Jagland has due to his position as a former head of an international organization be lifted - a request that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has agreed to.
“It is important that the facts in this case are clarified,“ Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement. "I have therefore decided that Norway will submit a proposal to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to lift Jagland's immunity," he said.
A lawyer for Jagland said he welcomed the police investigation and that his client would "fully contribute to it."
A spokesman for the Norwegian Nobel Committee declined to comment on the news, but added that the committee "welcomes all the facts in this case."
Jagland is one of several prominent Norwegians to appear in the financier's files. Another is Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who said she had shown poor judgment in maintaining ties "after Epstein was convicted."
Polish Justice Minister Waldemar Jurek announced that he plans to hold the first meeting of a working group on Poland's ties to the Jeffrey Epstein files next week. He announced that he had formed most of the team, which will include representatives of special services, prosecutors and police officers, the Polish news agency PAP reported.
The justice minister, who is to coordinate the work of the team, was asked at a briefing in Olsztyn today when his work would begin. “I plan to hold a meeting of this team next week“, Jurek replied.
He announced that he had already started to form a team, which will include representatives of the secret services, prosecutors and police officers. “We already have specific individuals who will be part of this team“, the justice minister said, but added that he wanted to clarify in advance that the composition of the team would not be revealed. He later added that most of the team had already been finally determined.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday the decision to create a team in the Epstein case, which concerns the pedophilia scandal in the United States. Last week, the US Department of Justice published approximately 3 million pages of documents from files related to American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These documents include, among other things, the financier's correspondence with or references to prominent figures.
The prime minister announced that an analytical team would investigate Polish topics, including possible cases of child abuse, as well as the question of Russian involvement raised by experts. He did not rule out that Poland would cooperate with an international investigation.
The Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that the analytical team would want to find out, among other things, who could potentially be involved in the scheme, whether Polish women were also recruited and whether they were adults.
Żurek also announced that he had already spoken with the Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, Tomasz Szymoniak, and the Minister of the Interior and Administration, Marcin Kerwiński, with whom he is cooperating in coordinating the team.