U of C graduate detained by Norway, accused of being Russian spy

A purported Brazilian researcher, who has been identified as a graduate of the University of Calgary, has been detained on suspicions of being a Russian spy, Norway's domestic security agency said Tuesday.

José Assis Giammaria convocated in fall 2018 with a master of strategic studies, the U of C confirmed in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking to CBC News, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, a professor in security studies at the Arctic University of Norway, said Giammaria took a job at her university in December of last year.

Gjørv said Giammaria had contacted her with a request to participate in research at the university. He sent his resume and grades, and Gjørv said she followed up with professors at the University of Calgary.

She said Giammaria worked at the university as a researcher and participated in seminars. She found out about his arrest on her way back from conferences in Canada earlier this week.

"I got a message from the police security service here in Norway that they wanted to meet with me and my husband right away," Gjørv told CBC News on Tuesday, adding she was later informed by her boss that Giammaria's office had been "ransacked" and that he had been arrested.

Gjørv said she didn't think Giammaria would have had access to any information that would be considered classified.

"He also could use sort of like a general computer in our office. If he's technologically savvy, then I cannot say anything about what he had further access to with regards to that," she said.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that Giammaria was apprehended Monday on his way to his job. The Norwegian Police Security Service told The Associated Press that it "is concerned that he may have acquired information about Norway's policy in the northern region."

Thomas Hansen, Giammaria's lawyer, told Norwegian newspaper VG that his client denied any wrongdoing.

In 2019, Giammaria wrote an article for The Canadian Naval Review, advocating for the potential of establishing bases in the Canadian arctic.

The editor for that publication, Ann Griffiths, said she receives a variety of unsolicited submissions, one of which was the piece from Giammaria. She said that was as far as his relationship with the publication went.

"The situation is very unsettling," she wrote in an email.

U of C said in a statement that students in the programs are taught by professors and instructors, not military professionals, to build a "well-rounded understanding of the drivers of military, security and strategic decision-making."