OSLO, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Norwegian police said on Tuesday they are investigating Telenor on suspicion that the telecoms operator aided and abetted crimes against humanity in Myanmar following a military coup in the Southeast Asian nation in 2021.
Investigators raided Telenor’s headquarters in Oslo on Tuesday related to the case, which also includes suspected sanctions violations, Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service and the PST security service said in a statement.
“Telenor Myanmar repeatedly handed over historical traffic data about customers to the military regime … at the same time as the regime was responsible for extensive abuses against parts of the civilian population,” police said.
Telenor, which sold its business in Myanmar following the coup and completed its exit from the country in March 2022, said it was cooperating closely with the investigators and will do everything in its power to assist in clarifying the case.
Earlier this year a Swedish non-profit filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Telenor Myanmar shared call logs and location data of suspected political opponents of the junta, leading to the execution of at least one prominent activist.
“The military coup was a tragedy for the people of Myanmar, in which we found ourselves placed in an impossible situation with no good alternatives,” Telenor said in a statement to Reuters.
“Employees risked imprisonment, torture or the death penalty if the military authorities’ orders were not complied with. We found that we had no real choice, and that we could not put our employees’ lives at risk,” the company said.
No individuals have been charged or are under investigation, Telenor added.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, Stine Jacobsen and Elviira Luoma, Editing by Louise Heavens)
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