On Tuesday, Norway’s Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Telenor, the Nordic country’s leading telephone operator, for alleged collaboration in crimes against human rights in Myanmar through its former subsidiary.
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The investigation covers the period from Feb. 1, 2021, when a military coup took place that resulted in thousands of deaths and imprisonments, through March 2022, when Telenor completed the sale of its subsidiary Telenor Myanmar (TML).
“The reason for the charge is that on repeated occasions during that period, TML provided information on its customers’ data traffic history to the military regime, while the regime was carrying out widespread attacks against part of the civilian population,” Norwegian authorities stated.
The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has opened another investigation into Telenor for violating the sanctions law on Myanmar, as the sale of TML included surveillance equipment without authorization from Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
oth investigations concern the same period and the development of events. Therefore, both the PST and the Prosecutor’s Office’s economic crimes unit (Kripos) are cooperating on the case and jointly searched Telenor’s offices on Tuesday, with authorization from an Oslo court.
Telenor, in which the Norwegian state is the largest shareholder with 54% of the shares, had previously said it had no choice but to provide the data to Myanmar authorities in order to preserve the safety of its employees in the country.
“Both cases are related to the consortium’s former activities in Myanmar. No individual has been charged or is under investigation in an individual capacity,” the company said Tuesday in a statement sent to the Oslo Stock Exchange.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
Source: teleSUR
