The Scotsman

Russia jails Norwegian for 14 years for spying on nuclear submarines

● Retired border inspector denies charges and says he was set up

- By ANGUS HOWARTH newsdeskts@scotsman.com

0 Frode Berg, 63, stands inside a defendants’ cage as he waits to hear his verdict in a Moscow court yesterday A Moscow court has found a Norwegian man guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security prison.

Retired Norwegian border inspector Frode Berg was arrested in Moscow in December 2017 and accused of collecting informatio­n about Russian nuclear submarines for Norwegian intelligen­ce.

Prosecutor­s asserted that Berg was caught with documents he had received from an employee of a military facility who was shadowed by Russian intelligen­ce.

Berg denied the charges. His lawyer has called him a victim of a set-up.

For years the 63-year-old Berg had been a well-known figure in the Russian-norwegian border area, taking an active role in cultural and humanitari­an exchange projects.

Berg’s lawyer Ilya Novikov told the Interfax news agency he and his client “do not see any point in” appealing the verdict, but instead would submit a plea for a presidenti­al pardon.

Berg’s trial came up in talks between president Vladimir Putin and Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg in St Petersburg last week.

Asked about a possible pardon, Mr Putin said he would wait for the verdict before weighing pleas for one.

Berg, who was wearing a suit and was handcuffed as he watched proceeding­s from a glass cage, admitted acting as a courier for Norwegian intelligen­ce, but said he had little knowledge of the mission.

Details of the case have not been revealed as they are classified.

A Russian ex-policeman accused of passing him navy files has been jailed.

Norway, which is a member of Nato, shares an Arctic border with Russia.

Relations between the two countries have been amicable for decades, even during the Cold War. However, ties have worsened since 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

State prosecutor­s had asked the court to jail Berg for 14 years. The maximum penalty for espionage is 20 years.

Mr Novikov said before the hearing he was expecting a guilty verdict and a lengthy sentence. The defence was hoping diplomatic talks could lead to Berg’s release, Mr Novikov said. But the lawyer said he was not aware of any talks under way between Oslo and Moscow to secure Berg’s release and that it would take a “significan­t” diplomatic push for it to happen.

“A presidenti­al pardon is not something that is granted in the natural course of events, but with diplomatic measures it is quite possible,” Mr Novikov said.

The lawyer has warned that given Berg’s age of 63, his client was facing “basically a life sentence”.

 ?? PICTURE: MAXIM ZMEYEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES ??
PICTURE: MAXIM ZMEYEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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