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

A guy 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 getting an “illegal,” a term that describes anyone who is in the place with a false identify and phony identity.
Law enforcement allege Giammaria, described as a Brazilian researcher in the Norwegian push, is basically Russian and functions for a Russian intelligence company as a spy.
His attorney, Thomas Hansen, advised Verdens Gang AS news agency in Norway that Giammaria denies the accusations and is in shock.
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A 2015 convocation system from Ottawa’s Carleton University demonstrates Jose Assis Giammaria graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science with a concentration in global relations and a insignificant in communications experiments.
Sean Devine, who was just lately elected as an Ottawa city councillor, reported he remembers Giammaria as a canvasser on a marketing campaign for the federal NDP in 2015.
“I did not know he was what people are indicating he is,” Devine explained in an interview with The Canadian Push. “He was the similar as any other volunteer on my staff.”
Devine stated Giammaria was a good volunteer and the only point that was abnormal about him was that he was not from Ottawa.
The University of Calgary claimed in a assertion that Giammaria attended the Alberta school and graduated in the slide of 2018 with a learn of strategic studies, a diploma method that shares content material with programs in political science, historical past and worldwide relations.
“Students in this system are taught by professors and instructors — not navy experts — to develop a effectively-rounded being familiar with of the drivers of army, stability and strategic choice-making,” stated the assertion.
“No access to details is provided that any other student in any other software wouldn’t have.”
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David Bercuson, who was director of the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Stability and Strategic Research in 2018 and is now director emeritus, mentioned he doesn’t keep in mind Giammaria.
“I really do not know nearly anything about him,” he explained in an e-mail. “I really really don’t.”
Gunhild Hoogensen Gjorv, who will work in security reports at the Arctic University of Norway, informed VG that Giammaria contacted her for get the job done at the university.
She stated he received a good deal of praise from people in Canada.
When asked regardless of whether he realized who in Canada might have furnished a reference for Giammaria, Bercuson stated he was not guaranteed.
“I actually really don’t know. I never know how properly he did and I couldn’t reveal that facts if I did,” he mentioned. “I just really don’t keep in mind the person at all.”
The University of Calgary referred other inquiries to the federal authorities.
No one from Immigration Canada or World-wide Affairs Canada responded to a request for comment.
&duplicate 2022 The Canadian Press