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Russian man freed in Norway to fly to Moscow on Saturday

Moscow says expect official apologies from the Norwegian side

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. Russian citizen Mikhail Bochkaryov, who was released from detention in Norway, plans to fly to Moscow on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"On October 19, M.A. Bochkaryov, a member of staff of the Federation Council [upper house of Russia’s parliament] who was detained in Oslo on September 21, was released from prison," the ministry said. "Now, he is staying in Russia’s embassy in Norway. Russian diplomats are giving him all necessary assistance."

"Tomorrow, he is planning to fly to Moscow," the foreign ministry said.

"Since the very beginning, we have been pointing out that espionage charges against M.A. Bochkaryov are false. We expect official apologies from the Norwegian side," the ministry said.

Bochkaryov case

Mikhail Bochkaryov was detained at Oslo airport on September 21 and then arrested. According to Norway’s version, the Russian man was allegedly spying with the help of wireless networks during a seminar on digitalization of the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation in the building of Norway’s parliament. Russia’s embassy in Oslo said that the case was based on trumped-up charges.

On October 18, the Norwegian news agency said that the Oslo District Court ordered Bochkaryov’s release. The country’s Police Security Service (PST) lodged an appeal against the court ruling, but then withdrew it.