Chinese woman remanded in custody until July in espionage case on Andøya
Oslo District Court extends remand in custody for four weeks for the woman charged with intelligence operations. The court rejects the explanation that the 22-tonne satellite receiver lacked the capacity to collect classified information.
Oslo District Court rejects explanation about satellite receiver
A Chinese woman charged with complicity in attempted serious intelligence operations is to remain in remand custody until 3 July, after Oslo District Court on Monday extended the custody order for a further four weeks. This is reported by NRK Norge.
The woman was arrested on 7 May on Andøya, the same day the Police Security Service (PST) carried out operations against residences on Andøya and in Otta in Innlandet. The PST also seized a container at Oslo harbour containing a 22-tonne satellite receiver. The service believes the receiver was intended for use on Andøya.
Court rejects technical objection
In the new custody order, the court directly contradicts the defence. The woman has claimed that the system in the shipment lacks the technical capacity to collect classified information.
"The defendant's assertion that the system in the shipment lacks the technical capacity to collect classified information does not, in the court's view, undermine the account", writes Oslo District Court in the order.
The defence lawyer has also pointed out that the system lacks transmission capacity. This too is given no weight.
"If the system lacks transmission capacity, as the defence has shown, this is in the court's view irrelevant to whether it is suitable for collecting classified information, which is what is covered by the Penal Code", the order states.
The PST believes the receiver is too powerful for the stated purpose – gathering weather data – and that it is far more suitable for retrieving data from military and communications satellites. Prosecution counsel Thomas Blom at the PST previously described the explanation as "using a cannon to shoot a sparrow" or "a torpedo for krill".
Company stated it sold health products
The company associated with the case was said by the PST to have stated that it would conduct business selling health products based on marine oil products, including krill oil.
"But then they are in the wrong place, because krill is usually caught commercially in the Ross Sea", said Blom to NRK in May.
The court emphasises in the order that it is not decisive that Norwegian companies use similar systems: "The fact that Norwegian companies use similar systems does not mean that the system lacks such capacity."
Investigation in early phase
The PST states that the investigation is still in an initial phase. Police Inspector Nina Bakken at the PST confirms that the remand in custody has been extended, and that the woman is subject to mail and visit monitoring.
"The PST has secured a quantity of evidence material which we are now going through to clarify the case and the grounds for suspicion. The defendant has been interviewed and is cooperating with the PST. The grounds for suspicion remain unchanged", says Bakken.
The evidence picture is described as extensive. There remain interviews of witnesses as well as securing and review of digital evidence – several of which are in Chinese.
"Because several of the digital evidence items are in Chinese, this review is more time-consuming than usual", writes the court.
Flight risk and destruction of evidence
The court believes there is reasonable grounds for suspicion and places weight on two separate considerations: the risk of absconding and the risk that evidence could be destroyed or compromised.
The woman is a Chinese citizen with her entire family in China. Two other co-defendants in the case are, according to the PST, probably abroad, with suspicion that they are staying in China. A company is also charged in the case.
"The nature of the case, in which the charge concerns suspicion of intelligence operations against state secrets, is by its nature such that the risk of absconding is high", writes the court, noting that the woman can be expected to face a lengthy prison sentence upon conviction.
The court has considered alternative measures to remand in custody, but concluded that these are not sufficient to avert the risk.
Neighbours were puzzled by house purchase
The residence on Andøya that was searched in May had been purchased by a company earlier in the year. Neighbours told NRK that they had noticed the purchase, but had not seen anyone move in.
"There has been much speculation about who owns the house and who has moved in", said neighbour Heidi Rosander to NRK.
Rosander had planned to drop by to greet the new neighbours when she discovered activity at the property.
"There was activity yesterday. I thought I would go and say hello, but it was the PST who were there", she said.
The PST has previously identified Andøya as an area of particular interest to foreign intelligence services, among other things because of the defence and space activities in the area. Chief Executive Ketil Olsen at Andøya Space described the case as a wake-up call when NRK covered it in May.
The woman is charged with breaching the Penal Code's provisions on intelligence operations against state secrets.
Source: NRK Norge