UiO Rector Refuses to Help

Translation by Arlene Pearce of an article from Norwegian newspaper, VG, internet edition 23.06.04:

Rector Arild Underdal at the University of Oslo refused to help the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) with terror investigation of international students and researchers.

“A university cannot operate surveillance and intelligence operations. It goes against the university’s principle of openness. We extend a warm welcome to students coming from abroad,” says Underdal who is the rector at the University of Oslo (UiO).

Yesterday (22.06.04), VG wrote about PSTs meeting with employers at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at UiO, where they requested that suspicious international students and researches should be thoroughly investigated in order to prevent terrorism.

Underdal believes such surveillance must be PST’s job, not the university’s. He is considering contacting PST to further clarify this issue.

Read the original article in Norwegian