A Free Man

Into an Oslo courtroom last week walked Norway's respected former Navy Chief, Admiral Edvard Danielsen, 63, to give testimony at a treason trial. The accused: Per Edvard Danielsen, 33, the Admiral's son. Grimly, the older man testified that he and his son had never discussed politics, that he had rarely seen him since war's end when Per became a Communist. While his father spoke, young Danielsen grinned arrogantly.

A World War II commando hero who later made friends with alcohol and with Russia, young Danielsen stood charged with delivering military information to a Russian naval attache in Oslo (TIME, June 25). He flatly denied guilt. He admitted meeting the Russian attache, but insisted that they only chatted about topics of the day, like Korea. He also admitted making a list of Norwegian warships and where they were stationed--information not classified as secret--but denied giving the list to the Russian.

Norwegian intelligence agents who shadowed Danielsen testified that he had handed over certain "objects," but could not prove they were documents. The court found there was no proof of "consummated crime." Verdict: not guilty. Before leaving the court, a free man, Danielsen said: "It is the Communists who really uphold the interests of the country."

Admiral Danielsen was not in court on the day judgment was passed.

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