MURMANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2020) Norwegian national Frode Berg, who was released by Russia in November as part of a spy swap, said that several employees of Norway's special services had received disciplinary sanctions after his arrest in Moscow in 2017, the Norwegian TV2 broadcaster reported on Friday.
Berg, a retired Norwegian border agent, was detained in Moscow in December 2017 as he was caught receiving documents that contained classified information concerning the Russian navy. Last April, a Russian court sentenced him to 14 years in prison on espionage charges. Berg has denied the charges, while his lawyer has said that he might have been used as a carrier for the classified documents by Norwegian intelligence officers without being aware of it. In November, Berg was freed from a jail in Russia and handed over to the Norwegian embassy in Vilnius in a spy swap that also involved two Lithuanians and two Russians.
"I know that some [intelligence officers] have already met the consequences. As I was informed, disciplinary measures have been taken against several employees," Berg said as broadcast by the Norwegian tv channel.
According to the report, at least four intelligence officers were punished.
The broadcaster asked the Norwegian counterintelligence service to comment on Berg's statement, but the agency said that there were no sanctions imposed against any of its employees.
