Russian Citizen Arrested on Suspicion of Spying at European Cooperation Conference

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – A 51-year-old Russian national has been arrested in Norway on suspicion of spying during a conference on strengthening cooperation between Europe’s parliamentary administrations.

Lawyer Hege Aakre told the Norwegian news agency NTB Monday that her client, who was not identified, was being questioned by Norway’s domestic intelligence agency, PST.

His behavior at the two-day conference prompted parliamentary officials to contact the intelligence service.

He was arrested Friday during the event by the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation, held at Norway’s Parliament, and placed on pre-trial detention for two weeks the following day. No further details were available.

Aakre says her client denies any wrongdoing.

The ECPRD is a European network for cooperation between parliamentarians on research, documentation and information. The Oslo event focused on digitalization.

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