A court in Norway has sentenced a former US embassy guard to three years and seven months in prison in a case of spying for Russia and Iran, NRK reports. The prosecutor had asked him for six years and four months in prison.
The man was detained on 20 November 2024. According to the investigation, the detainee himself took the initiative and contacted the intelligence services of Russia and Iran by e-mail. To the Russian officer he sent nine messages, and to the Iranian officer eight.
“I have information that may be useful to you. I work at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo and have access to classified information that is certainly of interest to your government. Please reply to this letter if you are interested,” NRK quoted a message sent by the accused to the Iranian embassy.
The messages sent included photos of cars in the embassy garage, a list of visitors, and a list of names and national insurance numbers of several employees of the diplomatic mission.
Prosecutor Karl Fari called the case serious, while noting that even though the man “is not a super spy,” he “should be tried.”
Lawyers pointed out that their client had no access to classified data except for one document that the prosecution considers classified. The information he passed on, they argued, could not have harmed national security.
“He lied about his security clearance to agents of other countries and exaggerated his role. He had almost as much access as a caretaker at the embassy. The information he shared was useless and neither in the aggregate nor individually could harm the security interests of individuals or states,” said lawyer Inger Zadig.
In October 2022, Jose Asis Jammaria was detained in Norway on suspicion of espionage. Norwegian intelligence services said his Brazilian citizenship and status as a “visiting researcher” at the University of Tromsø were just a cover. Insider and Bellingcat established that Jammaria’s real name was Mikhail Mikushin, and were also able to confirm his connection to the GRU. He returned to Russia in August 2024 on a major exchange with Western countries.