OSLO: Norwegian police have arrested a former commander of the Wagner mercenary group on suspicion that he tried to illegally cross the border again into Russia after searching for asylum in Norway earlier this 12 months, the person’s lawyer stated on Saturday (Sep 23).
Andrei Medvedev, who escaped Russia in January through its Arctic border with Norway, has described working as Russian guards fired pictures at him. He has spoken about his time-fighting in Ukraine as a part of the Wagner group.
Police stated in an announcement late on Friday {that a} man in his 20s had been taken into custody for making an attempt to illegally cross the Russian border, however didn’t title him. An officer with the Finnmark native police declined to provide the arrested man’s identification.
Crossing the border to Russia is barely allowed at designated factors.
However Medvedev’s arrest was attributable to a misunderstanding, his Norwegian lawyer Brynjulf Risnes instructed Reuters.
“He was up there to see if he may discover the place the place he crossed (into Norway in January). He was stopped when he was in a taxi. He was by no means close to the border … It was by no means his intention to cross the border (into Russia),” Risnes stated.
On the time of his arrival in Norway, Medvedev stated he was searching for asylum as a result of he feared for his life after witnessing the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners dropped at the frontline in Ukraine.
His escape in January made headlines around the globe as a uncommon instance on the time of somebody defecting to a Western nation whereas claiming to have fought for Russia as a mercenary within the Ukraine conflict.
However in Might, he stated in a video posted on YouTube he wished to return to Russia although he believed this might pose a danger to his life, describing himself as “some sort of a boy in a giant sport” that he not wished to be a part of.
Risnes stated Medvedev had the fitting to return to Russia if he wished to, however that “numerous modifications have to occur” with a purpose to make a protected return.
In April, Medvedev was convicted in Norway of involvement in a bar battle and of carrying an air gun however was acquitted of committing violence in opposition to police. He stated then he was seeking to the longer term and hoped for asylum.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed on Aug 23 when a non-public jet he used crashed in unexplained circumstances, simply two months after he briefly despatched his mercenaries advancing on Moscow in a direct problem to the Russian institution.