Russian national detained in Oslo suspected of collecting parliament’s data

The Norwegian Police Security Service has accused Russian national Mikhail Bochkarev, who was detained at Oslo’s airport earlier this month, of collecting the parliament’s data using wireless networks, his lawyer Bendik Falk-Kuslung told the Verdens Gang newspaper on Monday.

"The PST’s suspicions, among other things, are related to collecting data through wireless signals and networks in the Storting (parliament) building. He denies committing these steps," said the lawyer, who advocates the Russian’s interests together with another attorney Hege Askre.

Bochkarev, 51, an employee of the administration of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, visited Norway at the invitation of the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation to take part in an international seminar. He had been taking part in similar events since 2009.

The Russian national was detained at Oslo’s Gardermoen airport on September 21, the Russian Embassy in Norway confirmed on Sunday.

The diplomatic mission believes that the Russian was detained based on trumped-up allegations using a ludicrous excuse. Norway's Ambassador to Russia Rune Resaland was summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which lodged a strong protest over Bochkarev’s arrest upon false espionage charges. The ministry demanded that Norway drop all charges and release the Russian.

After Bochkarev’s visit, the Storting’s administration banned the use of printers in the building since the devices’ hard disks contain all documents of the parliament, which were allegedly targeted by the "attack." Technical experts of Norway’s National Security Authority are investigating whether Bochkarev could have installed bugs in the building. "If one gets access to the Storting’s database, they can learn a lot of interesting things about political and strategic decisions [of Norway]," NSM’s chief Jack Fischer Eriksen told the Norwegian News Agency.

On Monday, Deputy Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Ilias Umakhanov pledged that the upper house would do its utmost to protect legal interests and rights of the detained Russian citizen.