Oslo 1985-02: The Treholt case. - The lawsuit against the espionage defendant, former bureau chief...

Oslo 1985-02: The Treholt case. - The lawsuit against the espionage defendant, former bureau chief Arne Treholt began on February 25 in Oslo Courthouse, and was first completed on May 9, when the judges withdrew. The verdict was handed down on June 20 - it took the court 12 hours to read it aloud. In the indictment, the prosecuting authority claimed that Treholt had submitted secret information to Soviet intelligence service in the period 1974-83, and to Iraq from 1981-83. The trial was surrounded by enormous interest. Press people from home and abroad fought for the places in courtroom 23 in Oslo Courthouse, where the case went before the Court of Appeal. The court building was strictly guarded. In these surroundings, Arne Treholt did not plead guilty after the indictment. He stated that he had probably provided some confidential documents to his Soviet contacts, but that these were not a suitable thing to hurt Norway. The motive for his extensive contacts with Soviet diplomats and KGB people was to build a bridge between East and West. Treholt claimed that he only received a smaller amount of his Soviet contact to cover travel expenses. The court did not believe him. Lagmann Astri Rynning began the reading of the 255 -page verdict on the morning of June 20, and was not completed until well into the evening. Treholt received 20 years in prison and withdrawal of NOK 1.1 million which the court thought he had earned on espionage. - A betrayal against all of us, was the court's characteristic of Treholt's business. However, the Treholt case was not over with the verdict. The case was appealed on the scene. Treholt changed defenders - Alf Nordhus and Arne Haugestad took over for Ulf Underland, Jon Lyng and Andreas Arntzen. The debate on the evidence, about Treholt's time at the Defense College and whether Treholt had been prejudiced, continued. Image: Arne Treholt photographed in court on February 25, 1985. Photo: Erik Thorberg