Official Cleared of Corruption in Iran

The institute and its former director, David Lysne, had been accused of hiring Hinson Engineering Ltd. in 2002 to help it win oil research contracts in Iran by bribing officials there.

The institute paid a fine of $318,000 in February. But Lysne, who resigned from his post in 2005 due to the police investigation, fought the charge.

The national economic crime police Oekokrim had demanded in court that Lysne be jailed for 90 days for gross corruption. However, the Trondheim district court ruled that the police had failed to prove he had been party to bribery. It was not immediately clear whether the police prosecutors would appeal.

"We are glad that the court, like the defense, concluded that there is no evidence of corruption," Lysne's attorney Bjoern Stordrange was quoted as telling the Norwegian news agency NTB.

Sintef began a review of its own contracts after allegations of corruption in Iran by the Norwegian state-controlled oil company Statoil ASA forced its top executive and other managers to resign in September 2003.

Sintef, based in the city of Trondheim, is the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia with a staff of 1,700.