Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Shakeup at the PST

The Norwegian state intelligence service PST announced this evening (actually, tomorrow morning, since the press release came out after midnight CET) that the head of the service, Janne Kristiansen, has resigned. She had recently revealed that Norway has intelligence sources in Pakistan, which is a breach of Norwegian confidentiality laws. That information is supposed to be hush-hush.

As Valdemar mentioned last night, the PST also recently stated that radical Muslims, and not right-wing extremists, pose the greatest terrorist threat to Norway. Is there a connection between that faux pas and tonight’s announcement? Did that conclusion not sit well with Norway’s leftist elite?

In any case, our Norwegian correspondent The Observer has translated an article on the topic from Trønder-Avisa:

Chief of PST Janne Kristiansen resigns

Oslo (NTB): Janne Kristiansen resigns from her position as chief of the PST due to possible breaches of Norwegian confidentiality laws. Kristiansen resigns with immediate effect.

PST Chief Janne Kristiansen has informed the justice minister that she will resign from her position. The reason for her resignation is possible breaches of confidentiality slaw as a result of the disclosure of classified information, according to a press release from the Ministry of Justice published just after midnight on Thursday.

“I wish to emphasize that there are no confirmed violations of the law, but there may be possible breach of confidentiality laws. I have nonetheless decided to accommodate Kristiansen’s wish to resign,” Minister of Justice Grete Faremo says in the statement.

Deputy PST Chief Roger Berg will serve as acting head of the PST until further notice.

It was during a parliamentary special committee hearing on the 22 July terror attack that Kristiansen expressed herself in terms that could be construed as possible breaches of Norwegian confidentiality laws, according to the Ministry.

Janne Kristiansen took over as PST chief after Jørn Holme resigned in September 2009.

4 comments:

Henrik R Clausen said...

As Valdemar mentioned last night, the PST also recently stated that radical Muslims, and not right-wing extremists, pose the greatest terrorist threat to Norway.

A sign of intelligence and independent thinking, for sure.

The fact that they have contact to the police in Islamabad (not 'IslamIsBad' :) got out during a hearing in the parliament, where she happened to mention it in context with some other stuff she was asked about. It shouldn't be much of a surprise, and in a sane society people would shrug and say "OK, shouldn't have been said, but...".

In an insane society, however, it becomes a welcome opportunity to show Strength, Willpower, Set an example and get rid of competent staff.

Chiu ChunLing said...

A neat trick. Call someone into a parliamentary special committee hearing on a terror attack, ask them a bunch of questions, and when you catch them answering one that they weren't supposed to answer, demand their resignation.

P.S. still having trouble posting. The form claims it is rejection of the word verification, but this only occurs when I attempt to use my OpenID.

MRiggs said...

I'm not so sure this was such a trivial comment, re: intelligence assets in Pakistan. Also, someone that lets such a thing slip in public does not seem terribly competent. Is this woman perhaps a beneficiary of "positive discrimination"? I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Chiu ChunLing said...

If she's not supposed to answer the question, then why call her in front of a parliamentary special committee hearing to ask it?