Norwegian police searched the homes of former prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland on Thursday (12 February) as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged ties between prominent Norwegians and the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, authorities and media reports said.
Images published by VG, Dagbladet, Dagens Næringsliv and Aftenposten showed investigators carrying boxes into Jagland’s Oslo residence.
The raids followed the Council of Europe lifting Jagland’s diplomatic immunity. Jagland led the human rights watchdog from 2009 to 2019.
According to his lawyer Anders Brosveet, Økokrim (Norway's National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) is currently conducting searches of Thorbjørn Jagland’s residence and recreational properties.
"This was expected and is a standard part of an investigation of this nature," his lawyer Brosveet said.
Jagland is accused of aggravated corruption, under Norwegian law provisions that precede formal charging. Formal charges in Norway are typically brought much later, sometimes only weeks before a court case.
Brosveet said: “This does not represent any real change in the substance of the case, but is a legal consequence of the investigative methods used by the police.”
Last week, Økokrim confirmed it had opened an investigation into Jagland, also a former foreign minister and ex-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee. Jagland told Aftenposten he welcomed the probe, “I am very glad that the matter is being clarified.”
Brosveet added that Jagland intends to appear for questioning and will cooperate fully with authorities.
The investigation is based on newly released Epstein files, which indicate that in 2014 Jagland and Epstein’s assistants planned travel to Palm Beach, Florida and Epstein’s Caribbean island for Jagland, his wife, two children and his son’s girlfriend.
Jagland has denied visiting the private island. The probe will examine whether gifts, travel or loans were received in connection with his official positions.
Emails also show Jagland sought Epstein’s help to finance an apartment in Oslo in 2014 and discussed arranging meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2018.
The U.S. Justice Department has released millions of documents exposing Epstein’s ties to European figures in business, academia, government and royalty.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the United States is making gains in its conflict with Iran after a key Iranian naval target was destroyed, confirming that the strike was carried out by a U.S. submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka. Rescue efforts are now under way for the ship’s crew.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 4th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
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