Arne Treholt

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Arne Treholt (born December 13, 1942) is a former Norwegian social democratic politician and diplomat convicted of high treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Iraq.

He was a member of the Norwegian Labour Party and also worked as a journalist for the national daily Arbeiderbladet. He was political secretary for the minister of commerce Jens Evensen before he became deputy foreign minister in the bureau of maritime affairs 1976–1978. From 1979–1982 he was connected to the Norwegian UN delegation in New York as an embassy counsellor. During the years 1982–1983 he studied at the Norwegian Joint Staff College. He was also department head of division for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' press from 1983.[1]

Arrested for espionage in 1984, he served a prison sentence until being pardoned by a Labour government in 1992. After his release from prison, he settled in Russia and later Cyprus.

On March 20, 2006, the Norwegian News Agency (NTB) reported[2] that Treholt had been admitted to a hospital in Cyprus and was in a stable but critical condition, and in a coma, possibly suffering from blood poisoning.

New information presented by a Swedish crime lab in 2008 presents doubts about the authenticity of the copies of the verdict that have been presented, and this is believed to become important when a government commissions in the spring of 2008 is deciding on allowing a renewed treatment of the case.

Contents

[edit] Espionage accusations

As a result of suspicion, Treholt was placed under surveillance by Norwegian counterintelligence services for several years of his career in the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs. Fearing that he was about to defect to the Soviet Union, Norwegian authorities arrested him on January 20, 1984 at Oslo Airport on his way to Paris.

Arne Treholt (left) with KGB-officers Gennadij Titov and Aleksander Lopatin in the streets of Vienna.
Arne Treholt (left) with KGB-officers Gennadij Titov and Aleksander Lopatin in the streets of Vienna.

Following a much publicized and controversial trial, Treholt was convicted for treason and sentenced to 20 years in prison, one year short of the maximum sentence allowed under the Norwegian penal code (a Norwegian "life" sentence is 21 years). The conviction included espionage for the Soviet Union and Iraq, and high treason.

While serving his sentence Treholt made one unsuccessful escape attempt. He was eventually reprieved by the Labour government of Gro Harlem Brundtland on July 3, 1992.

[edit] Basis for conviction

Treholt was convicted and sentenced for passing classified material to KGB in the period 1974–1983 and to the Iraqi Intelligence Service 1981–1983. The sentence also encompassed handing over secrets obtained at the Norwegian Joint Staff College where he was enrolled with authorization from the non-socialist coalition government. Despite the fact that the government of Prime Minister Kåre Willoch knew that he was under suspicion of espionage, he was admitted so as not to reveal the suspicions harboured by the authorities.

The trial led to a heated and extensive public debate about the Treholt case in Norway. The controversy concerned the evidence against Treholt, the conduct of the police and prosecuting authorities, and what was viewed as lenient treatment of Treholt while he was under suspicion, as well as his controversial pardon by Gro Harlem Brundtland's Labour government in 1992.

Following his release, Arne Treholt emigrated to Russia where he works as a businessman and consultant in Russia and Cyprus.

[edit] Cash evidence

The police consucted several searches of Treholt's apartment. In May 1982 they found 10,000 USD in a suitcase. In August the same year they found 30,000 USD in the same suitcase. Finally, in 1984 they found another 62,000 USD. Trehold defended himself, claiming that most of the money came from selling graded documents to Iraq, and from winning at a casino in Vienna.

Treholt and his lawyer, Harald Stabell, claim that the police and the judges conspired to cheat with the cash evidence, to make it appear as if the money came from the KGB, while they really came from Iraqi intelligence. [3]

[edit] Verdict controversy 2008

In a 2008 report the Swedish Crime Lab (SKL) documents that several different versions of the verdict exist. According to SKL the asserted original from the Norwegian Police Security Agency is not the basis of the two other extant copies. This leads to the conclusion that another original must exist. This new information is believed to be a pivottal point as the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission decides on a motion to renew procedures in the Treholt case in the spring of 2008.

Several discrepancies between the three known copies have mystified the scientists. For instance, different security clearances have been applied, the margins are wildly skewed, allegedly, letters are used that do not exist on the typewriters in use by the courts.

There has not yet been presented a copy of the verdict which is signed by the judges, and tape recordings of the proceedings have not been made available despite these having been recorded.[4]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Arne Treholt med selvbiografi
  2. ^ Aftenposten.no: Arne Treholt ligger i koma (Innenriks)
  3. ^ Her er pengebeviset - magasinet - Dagbladet.no
  4. ^ Bakkeli, Tom. "Mer tvil rundt Treholt-dom", Oslo, Norway: Verdens Gang, February 12, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. (Norwegian) 

[edit] External links