China glad to see court ruling against scholar's expulsion from Norway

OSLO -- China said on Monday it was glad to see that the Oslo District Court ruled against the Norwegian government's decision of expelling a Chinese scholar from the country early this year on the grounds that his research could be used for military purposes.

"The allegation against the Chinese scholar is totally baseless and is an infringement on the scholar's academic freedom. We are glad to see that the Oslo District Court's ruling restores the scholar's innocence," the Chinese embassy in Norway said in a statement.

The Oslo District Court ruled on Sept 14 that the decision by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to expel the Chinese scholar was recognized invalid and "this means that the expulsion order is not valid and my client basically can get back to Norway," Nils Anders Gronas, the Chinese scholar's lawyer, told Xinhua.

The ruling is not enforceable now and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security has one month to file an appeal if it wishes, the lawyer said.

"My client was naturally very happy. The matter is of great importance for him since he was expelled not only from Norway but the whole Schengen area. Therefore it was important for him that the decision was recognized invalid," Gronas said.

Ingrid Skog Hauge, a lawyer of Norway's Office of the Attorney General representing the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, declined to comment on the case at this point, saying she would go through the court ruling with her client and need some time to do this.

Norwegian police ordered the Chinese doctorate student, who had been working on a wind power project at the University of Agder for more than two years, and his professor, a German national of Iranian origin, to leave Norway before Jan 23. Both of them have left the Nordic country.

Both the professor and the Chinese student have denied the allegations and decided to contest the Norwegian government's decision in court.

The trial for both cases took place last month in the Oslo District Court.