COPENHAGEN – The Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights watchdog, said on Feb 11 it has agreed to lift the diplomatic immunity of its former Norwegian secretary-general, allowing the police to investigate his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Norway’s white-collar crimes police have opened an investigation into Mr Thorbjoern Jagland, former prime minister and foreign minister and former chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, on suspicion of aggravated corruption.
The decision to investigate Mr Jagland, the Council of Europe’s secretary-general from 2009 to 2019, was based on information revealed by
newly released files related to Epstein
, the convicted US sex offender who died while in prison in 2019.
Mr Jagland’s lawyer, Mr Anders Brosveet, said the decision to lift his immunity was as expected, and Mr Jagland would cooperate with the investigation to clarify all matters.
“He takes this matter very seriously, but wishes to emphasise that he believes there are no circumstances that constitute criminal liability,” Mr Brosveet said in a statement.
In order to conduct a police investigation, it was necessary to remove Mr Jagland’s immunity, and Norway’s Foreign Ministry said it had asked the 46 nations of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to do so.
Mr Jagland has not been charged with any crime, but the investigation will seek to uncover whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position, the police have said.
“Jagland as elected secretary-general of the Council of Europe would have violated the special trust attached to his position, if he received bribes,” Norwegian police said in a Feb 8 letter asking the council to lift the immunity.
The release of a cache of new files in the US has revealed a host of new Epstein connections
with politicians, royals and the ultra-rich
across Europe and the US.
The files show, among other things, that Mr Jagland and Epstein’s assistants made detailed plans in 2014 for Mr Jagland, his wife, two children and his son’s girlfriend to visit Epstein at Palm Beach and the Caribbean island that he owned.
Mr Jagland, then secretary-general of the Council of Europe rights watchdog, has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island.
In an e-mail in 2014, he sought Epstein’s help in financing an apartment in Oslo.
E-mails from 2018 showed Epstein asking Mr Jagland to arrange for him to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and saying he had insights to offer President Vladimir Putin. Mr Jagland promised to bring it up with Mr Lavrov’s assistant.
The Norwegian police said on Feb 9 they are also investigating two high-profile diplomats in another corruption probe linked to Epstein, while the country’s crown princess has repeatedly apologised over her friendship with the disgraced financier.
Norway’s parliamentary oversight committee unanimously agreed on Feb 10 to appoint a rare external inquiry into Foreign Ministry links to Epstein. REUTERS
