Norway arrests Wagner Group defector who sought asylum

ANKARA

Norway has arrested a defector from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who fled to the country and sought asylum earlier this month, local media reported Monday.

Andrey Medvedev has been arrested under the Immigration Act, and it is being assessed whether he should be produced for detention, police spokesperson Cecilie Johansen told the Verdens Gang daily.

The daily however highlighted that according to Norwegian law, detention means that a person is put in custody not as punishment but as a security measure.

Also speaking to the daily, Medvedev’s Norwegian lawyer, Brynjulf ​​Risnes, said there is friction between his client and police authorities who oversee guarding him.

Conditions that would allow him both to continue giving interviews and working on an asylum application should be created, he said.

Risnes also said that Medvedev’s deportation is completely unthinkable as he has applied for asylum and there are good reasons to believe that what he says is true.