Psychiatrist denies involvement in Hagen kidnapping

A Norwegian psychiatrist in his 50s, secretly charged in the 2018 kidnapping of Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, has denied any involvement in the case, telling Dagbladet he has “nothing to do with the kidnapping.”

The man, a Norwegian citizen who now spends much of his time in Istanbul, said he was willing to explain himself to Kripos investigators at any time. He claims he was driving on a nearby motorway at the time of the abduction, with his phone pinging two cell towers and a toll station over a 76-minute window.

“I drove past on the motorway to train at a gym in Strømmen. I train there every day when I’m in Norway,” he said, insisting he has never been to Sloraveien, where Hagen disappeared from her home on 31 October 2018.

He revealed he was first wiretapped in 2018, with all his mobile calls monitored. In 2024, police contacted him for questioning, but he refused, citing past trauma from wrongful detention in an unrelated case where he was acquitted of serious charges but convicted of a workplace violation.

“It was terrible. I sat in solitary confinement for ten months, only to be cleared,” he said. He added that he received no apology or compensation.

In May, he learned he had been under investigation for two years after receiving a police letter confirming the charges and the seizure of his phone and traffic data.

“It’s dreadfully unpleasant,” he said.