Norway’s former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland has been formally named a suspect in an aggravated corruption investigation linked to his ties with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, authorities confirmed Friday, marking a major escalation in a scandal that has engulfed parts of the Norwegian elite.
Norway’s specialised economic crimes unit, Okokrim, said it is probing whether Jagland, who served as prime minister in 1996‑97, later chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee and was secretary‑general of the Council of Europe, accepted undue benefits, including gifts, travel or loans, in connection with his official positions during the period covered by the newly released Epstein documents. The probe was opened after more than three million pages of materials were published by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which revealed extensive contact between Epstein and prominent figures worldwide.
On Thursday, police conducted coordinated searches of multiple properties owned by Jagland in Oslo and elsewhere as investigators gathered evidence. Videotaped footage showed officers carrying boxes out of his residence in the Norwegian capital. Økokrim’s chief, Paal Lønseth, said the searches and suspect designation were part of standard investigative procedures in a case of this nature. Jagland’s lawyer Anders Brosveet said his client would cooperate and contribute to a thorough clarification of the matter.
The investigation moved forward only after the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers waived Jagland’s diplomatic immunity, which he retained from his decade‑long tenure leading the pan‑European human rights body. The council said lifting immunity was necessary to allow Norwegian justice authorities to pursue the criminal probe.
Jagland has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and while he has acknowledged some contacts with Epstein, he insists nothing improper occurred. At this stage he has not been formally indicted in court, a distinction under Norwegian law that comes later in the process. Prosecutors have said they will seek to determine whether material benefits were received during Jagland’s numerous influential roles.
The widening scandal has also drawn scrutiny toward other Norwegian diplomats and public figures whose names appear in the Epstein documents, intensifying domestic debate and prompting a parliamentary inquiry into the foreign ministry’s handling of contacts with Epstein and his circle.