Arne Treholt

Arne Treholt
Treholt in 2010
Born(1942-12-13)13 December 1942
Brandbu, German-occupied Norway
Died12 February 2023(2023-02-12) (aged 80)
Moscow, Russia
OccupationBusinessman
Criminal statusReleased in 1992
Conviction(s)Treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Iraq
Criminal penalty20 years imprisonment

Arne Treholt (13 December 1942 – 12 February 2023) was a Norwegian-born, Russia-based convicted felon and KGB agent who was convicted of treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union against Norway during the Cold War and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Before his arrest in 1984, he was successively a journalist, a junior Norwegian Labour Party politician and a medium-level official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway, while secretly working for the KGB. Treholt provided the Soviet Union with information on the Norwegian defense plans for northern Norway in the event of a Soviet invasion, material weaknesses in the Norwegian Armed Forces, mobilization plans, information on how to most effectively take out Norwegian soldiers, Norwegian emergency plans, the location of NATO allies' stored equipment in Norway, and the meeting minutes of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Treholt was found to possess a secret bank account in Switzerland with a substantial illicit amount.[1][2] Treholt's espionage is generally seen as the most serious spy case in the modern history of Norway.[3] Following his arrest, Treholt was described as "the greatest traitor to Norway since Quisling".[4] The Treholt case was the last major espionage case in Norway during the Cold War, following the earlier Haavik case, the Høystad case and the Sunde case.

Treholt was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison the following year, of which he served nine in a maximum security prison. His early release was granted in 1992 based on claimed ill health. After his release from prison Treholt moved to Russia, where he started a company together with a former KGB general. He always maintained that he had never provided his contacts with any information that could have endangered his country's security. In 2010, his case took a new twist when Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen, who was later revealed to be a con artist and sentenced to prison himself, claimed that Arne Treholt had been the victim of a conspiracy. He applied for a review of his case, which was rejected a year later by the commission in charge of examining it. Treholt was occasionally active in public debate, and he was accused by Norwegian media of promoting Russian propaganda.[5] Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Treholt and Russian propagandist Glenn Diesen wrote an article that claimed that Russia has "legitimate interests and security needs" and claimed that Russia was unfairly demonized.[6] Aftenposten's foreign affairs editor Kjell Dragnes wrote that Treholt and Diesen promoted Russian propaganda.[5]

  1. ^ Han satte oss alle i fare, VG
  2. ^ Røpet antallet soldater på helgevakt, organisering ved invasjon og beredskapslagre, Dagbladet
  3. ^ "Norway's 'greatest spy case' to be re-examined". AFP. 24 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  4. ^ Nordheimer, Jon (29 January 1984). "Portrait of Spy as Golden Young Man". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b "Russland med front mot Norge". Aftenposten. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Norge som frontlinje mot Russland". Aftenposten. Retrieved 10 March 2022.