Man accused of being Russian spy in Norway attended universities in Ottawa, Calgary

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Man accused of being Russian spy in Norway attended universities in Ottawa, Calgary

A man arrested in Norway who is suspected of staying a Russian spy has ties to Canada.

Norwegian authorities arrested Jose Assis Giammaria on Monday on suspicion of staying an “illegal,” a phrase that describes another person who is in the state with a wrong title and phony identity.

Police allege Giammaria, explained as a Brazilian researcher in the Norwegian press, is actually Russian and will work for a Russian intelligence services as a spy.

His law firm, Thomas Hansen, informed Verdens Gang AS news agency in Norway that Giammaria denies the accusations and is in shock.

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A 2015 convocation program from Ottawa’s Carleton College exhibits Jose Assis Giammaria graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science with a focus in international relations and a minor in communications experiments.

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Sean Devine, who was just lately elected as an Ottawa metropolis councillor, reported he remembers Giammaria as a canvasser on a campaign for the federal NDP in 2015.

“I did not know he was what men and women are expressing he is,” Devine said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “He was the exact same as any other volunteer on my crew.”

Devine explained Giammaria was a great volunteer and the only factor that was strange about him was that he was not from Ottawa.

The University of Calgary stated in a statement that Giammaria attended the Alberta school and graduated in the drop of 2018 with a master of strategic scientific tests, a diploma software that shares information with systems in political science, historical past and worldwide relations.

“Students in this method are taught by professors and instructors — not armed forces pros — to construct a perfectly-rounded knowledge of the motorists of armed service, stability and strategic determination-producing,” mentioned the statement.

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“No access to information is offered that any other student in any other plan would not have.”

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David Bercuson, who was director of the University of Calgary’s Centre for Army, Safety and Strategic Reports in 2018 and is now director emeritus, explained he does not don’t forget Giammaria.

“I do not know something about him,” he mentioned in an e mail. “I truly never.”

Gunhild Hoogensen Gjorv, who is effective in safety experiments at the Arctic University of Norway, told VG that Giammaria contacted her for do the job at the university.

She reported he gained a large amount of praise from persons in Canada.

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When asked no matter whether he knew who in Canada may perhaps have presented a reference for Giammaria, Bercuson said he was not positive.

“I truly never know. I don’t know how effectively he did and I couldn’t expose that info if I did,” he mentioned. “I just don’t try to remember the dude at all.”

The University of Calgary referred other concerns to the federal govt.

No a person from Immigration Canada or World-wide Affairs Canada responded to a ask for for remark.

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