Økokrim

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coat of arms of Norway

Økokrim (full translated name: Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime; Økokrim is short for Økonomisk Kriminalitet ("Economic Crime")) is Norway's central unit for fighting economic, environmental and computer related crimes. The unit, created in 1989, has its main office in Oslo.

Økokrim is both a police unit and a prosecution authority. The current director is the chief public prosecutor Einar Høgetveit. The unit is organized in multidisciplinary teams headed by public prosecutors. Each team has a specific field of expertise, such as corruption, computer crime or fraud.

The organization has played an important role in some major legal cases. For example, in 2002 and 2003 during the DeCSS legal proceedings it prosecuted Jon Lech Johansen, who was assisted in his defense by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and again in 2003 Økokrim arrested Mullah Krekar, alleged leader of the Kurdish Islamist group, Ansar al-Islam.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

In other languages