SPYING ON CAMPUS!?
SPYING ON CAMPUS!?
Journalist : Marie Tjelta
Illustratør: Yngve Rasmussen
Sofie Palmstrøm Translator
Web-distributør: Martha Ingeborg Evensen
Towards the end of the January block, I found myself sitting inside NIBIO waiting for a friend who had an exam. It didn’t take long before I was asked who I was and what I was doing there, only to be thrown out of the building because waiting for someone was not a good enough reason to be inside the building. The justification was that stronger security measures have been initiated lately, and who has access to NMBU’s buildings has become very strict. I am far from the only student who has experienced being ‘thrown out’, encountering more and more locked doors, losing security access on their student card, and generally experiencing stricter security on campus. Why is this happening and could it be related to a Russian spy?
Russian Illegalist at UiT
In early October 2022, a visiting researcher at the University of Tromsø was charged with espionage. After much deliberation, it was revealed that the visiting researcher from Brazil, under the name José Assis Giammaria, was actually Mikahail Valerijevitsj Mikusjin from Russia, seeking Norwegian state secrets. PST (the Norwegian Police Security Service) believes that Mikusjin is an illegalist, meaning a person who has built up an identity as a regular citizen while working undercover for a foreign intelligence agency. PST’s investigation uncovered that Mikusjin received his education from GRU. GRU, not the gruesome, but rather Russia’s military intelligence known for training illegal spies. Mikusjin is now charged with serious espionage of state secrets, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years. The rector at UiT stated in the newspaper iTromsø that this is a case of espionage on a completely different and far more advanced level than what they have seen before.
Another security political situation
‘Alright, but what does this have to do with me, you might wonder? It’s rumored that a more tightly guarded campus is a measure against espionage. To get to the bottom of this, Tuntreet contacted NMBU’s security officer, Bård Martin Tollefsen. “It’s clear that one becomes more alert when hearing about such an event as in Tromsø; it’s a very special case,” Tollefsen explains. But fear not, he reassures us that there is no reason to believe that such a thing is happening at NMBU. “That being said, the security political situation around us has changed significantly over the past 2 years, and we must be more vigilant and aware of what is happening around us - including at NMBU.” Could this be why we weren’t allowed into the hall during the grand prix?
The security of students and staff
Despite the rumors, Tollefsen will not say that a Russian spy at UiT has had any direct impact on NMBU’s security work. When students encounter a red light when scanning their student card to access their lab, it’s more due to the fact that the faculties have undergone a ‘value assessment.’ That is, identifying which information or resources are important for the institution and then assessing threats and vulnerabilities that could affect their security. This likely led to those responsible for laboratories tightening the requirements for who should have access and at what times of day. These are measures to safeguard the security of individual students and staff, Tollefsen emphasizes.
NMBU is an open university
Finally, Tollefsen concludes that NMBU is an open university, and that’s something they want to continue to be to the greatest extent possible. “While we want to be as open as possible, we also need to restrict access to some areas. We have a lot of important work going on at NMBU, and we know that other nations are interested in acquiring it. Therefore, we must also protect our assets.”
So, it might be wise to keep your eyes open in this time we live in with a new securitypolitical landscape. However, there’s no reason to fear that espionage will happen at NMBU in the near future. Even though it might feel frustrating to encounter a locked door, it’s important to remember that security measures are primarily in place to protect students and staff. But then comes the big question, what about me, when I have to do lab experiments at 3 am the day before the deadline?
