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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