A FORMER Norwegian diplomat who was convicted of spying in Norway in 1985 and who since emigrated to Cyprus could soon come in from the cold after it emerged key evidence in his trial might have been falsified.
Arne Treholt, 67, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for treason and spying for Iraq and Russia. After his early release in 1992, he moved to Cyprus via Moscow and is now vice president of Limassol based FOREX trading firm, United World Capital.
However, according to a recently released book, Forfalskningen (“The Falsification”) and an alleged testimony from an officer in the Norwegian intelligence service (PST) who worked the case, some pieces of evidence that were used to convict Treholt were falsified.
The book alleges that large sums of money allegedly found in Treholt’s apartment and supposedly given to him by the KGB were actually produced by the police themselves.
Last Saturday, the Norwegian daily Aftenposten claimed quoted the intelligence officer as saying “I am very relieved. It hasn’t been a day that I haven’t thought about the injustice that we caused Treholt.”
The officer said that the falsification was probably made out of frustration, after three years of monitoring Treholt without gathering sufficient evidence to charge him.
The revelations have paved the way for possible clearance of Treholt’s name, as Norway’s attorney general has requested the criminal cases review commission to re-examine the case.
However, according to another paper, Aftenbladet, Attorney-General Tor-Aksel Busch said that Treholt would have been convicted even without the cash evidence
Treholt entered the Norwegian foreign ministry after a spell as a journalist at the Arbeiderbladet daily national newspaper. He later took up a job as political secretary in Norway’s Ministry of Commerce before becoming the deputy minister of foreign minister in the bureau of maritime affairs from 1976 to 1978.
In 1984 he was arrested for espionage while serving as head of division for Ministry of Foreign Affairs press after several years of surveillance. The prosecution alleged that he was spying on behalf of the Iraqi intelligence services from 1981 to 1983 and the KGB from 1974 to 1983. His conviction for high treason was just one year short of the maximum sentence under Norwegian law.
Treholt could not be reached for comment yesterday.
