Arne Treholt Arne Treholt ( born 13 December 1942 ) is a former Norwegian Labour Party politician and diplomat convicted of high treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Iraq during the Cold War . Treholt ' s espionage is generally seen as the most serious spy case in the modern history of Norway . Arrested in 1984 and sentenced to 20 years in prison the following year , the Norwegian government pardoned him in 1992 after he had served over 8 years in a maximum security prison . After his release from prison , he settled in Russia and later in Cyprus , where he works as a businessman and consultant . Career . He was a member of the Norwegian Labour Party and also worked as a journalist for the national daily " Arbeiderbladet " ( Labour Magazine ) . He was political secretary for the minister of commerce Jens Evensen before he became deputy foreign minister in the bureau of maritime affairs ( 1976 – 1978 ) . From 1979 to 1982 he was connected to the Norwegian UN delegation in New York as an embassy counsellor . During the years 1982 – 1983 he studied at the Norwegian Joint Staff College . He was also department head of division for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ' press from 1983 . Pre - trial . Treholt was placed under surveillance by Norwegian counterintelligence services for several years of his career in the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs ( NUPI ) and the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs . On 20 January 1984 , he was arrested by Ørnulf Tofte , head of counter - intelligence , at Oslo Airport on his way to Vienna to meet with KGB officers . Trial . Following a much publicized trial presided over by Astri Rynning , Treholt was convicted for treason and sentenced to 20 years in prison , one year short of the maximum sentence allowed under the Norwegian penal code . The conviction included espionage for the Soviet Union and Iraq , and high treason . He was eventually reprieve d by the Labour government of Gro Harlem Brundtland on 3 July 1992 . Incarceration . Treholt was incarcerated in Drammen Prison from 1984 to 1985 . He was transferred to Ila Prison , a maximum security prison for dangerous criminals , in 1985 . In 1986 , prison officials discovered that he planned to break out , and he was swiftly transferred to another maximum security prison for long term inmates , Ullersmo Prison . In 1987 , he married Renee Michelle Steele ( 1968 – 92 ) , who had been a fellow inmate until her release . Arne Treholt was released from prison in 1992 after serving over 8 years . Treholt wrote on his experiences in prison in three books , " Alene " ( 1985 ) , " Avdeling K " ( 1991 ) , and " Gråsoner " ( 2004 ) . Basis for conviction . Treholt was convicted and sentenced for passing classified material to KGB in the period 1974 – 1983 and to the Iraqi Intelligence Service 1981 – 1983 . The sentence also encompassed handing over secrets obtained at the Norwegian Joint Staff College where he was enrolled with authorization from the non - socialist coalition government . Despite the fact that the government of Prime Minister Kåre Willoch knew that he was under suspicion of espionage , he was admitted so as not to reveal the suspicions harboured by the authorities . The trial led to a heated and extensive public debate about the Treholt case in Norway . The controversy concerned the evidence , and lack thereof , against Treholt , the conduct of the police and prosecuting authorities , and what was viewed as lenient treatment of Treholt while he was under suspicion , as well as his controversial pardon by Gro Harlem Brundtland ' s Labour government in 1992 . Cash evidence . The police conducted two searches of Treholt ' s apartment . In May 1982 , they found 10 , 000 USD in a suitcase . In August 1983 they found 30 , 000 USD in the same suitcase . Treholt and his lawyer later alleged that Norwegian counter intelligence services produced these evidences themselves , and that the police and the judges conspired to cheat with the cash evidence , to make it appear as if the money came from the KGB . These allegations have been refuted as untrue . Furthermore , it should be known that Arne Treholt during the trial admitted to having received money from the KGB for covering " expenses " , but claimed that it could " only " have been 26 , 000 or 27 , 000 USD . After prison . Cyprus hospital admission . On 20 March 2006 , the Norwegian News Agency ( NTB ) reported that Treholt had been admitted to a hospital in Cyprus and was in a stable but critical condition , and in a coma , possibly suffering from blood poisoning . Ruling by the Criminal Cases Review Commission . On 15 December 2008 the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission ( " Gjenopptakelses - kommisjon " ) ruled that the case would not be reviewed . The decision is final and cannot be appealed . As a result of the decision , the prosecutor who handled the case in 2008 , Stein Vale , wrote a book to summarize the case . The book – " Teppefall i Treholtsaken " ( " Curtain falls on the Treholt case " ) – was published in September 2009 . The chairwoman of the review commission , Janne Kristiansen , was appointed as head of the Norwegian Police Security Service ( " Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste " ) , the descendant organization of the Police surveillance service ( " Politets overvåkningstjeneste " ) . Kristiansen and the PST would be defending the former POT from allegations of evidence tampering later on . 2010 – 2011 events . In September 2010 , a new book claimed that the searches of Treholt ' s apartment had not taken place and that one of the pieces of evidence presented in court had been fabricated by the police . On 18 September 2010 , the Norwegian newspaper " Aftenposten " wrote that an anonymous former counter - intelligence employee claimed Treholt ' s and his lawyer ' s claim of evidence fabrication was true , but a few days later the anonymous alleged former employee withdrew many of his claims , stating that he didn ' t know . The Attorney General has asked the Criminal Cases Review Commission to look at the case again in light of the recent claims . The Attorney General stated that he did not believe the outcome of the case would have been any different without the evidence in question . On 24 September , the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission decided to reopen its investigation of the case , previously closed in 2008 . On 9 June 2011 , the commission decided that the Arne Treholt criminal case would not be reopened . Based on comprehensive interviews with 29 witnesses ( 18 of which were former police investigators who had been involved in the Treholt investigation ) as well as forensic studies of photographs , negatives and documents , the commission unanimously concluded that there was no basis to suggest that evidence against Treholt had been tampered with or had been fabricated . In a 59 - page document , the commission completely discounted the allegations made in the 2010 book . After the verdict , PST - director Kristiansen , who had denied re - openening the case in 2008 , demanded an apology from Treholts supporters . The demand went rejected .