A court in Norway has extended the detention of a Russian citizen suspected of spying at the Norwegian parliament for another two weeks on Thursday, despite Moscow’s protests, his lawyer said.
The Russian foreign ministry has demanded that Norway lifts “the absurd charges” and releases Mikhail Bochkaryov, whom it identified as a staff member of the Russian parliament’s upper house.
The Oslo District Court has not yet confirmed the extension in its official communications.
Mikhail Bochkaryov was detained on Sept. 21 at the Oslo airport before a flight out of the country after attending a seminar on digitalization at Norway’s parliament, Stortinget.
The Norwegian police security service, the PST, asked the court to extend the detention, arguing that he might destroy evidence or leave the country if freed.