Sverre Riisnæs

Sverre Parelius Riisnæs was a Norwegian jurist and public prosecutor who was born 6 November 1897 in Vik, Sogn county and died 21 June 1988 in Oslo. He was a member of the collaborationist government Nasjonal Samling in occupied Norway during World War II and a Standartenführer (Colonel) in the Schutzstaffel.

Riisnæs was an important public prosecutor in inter-war Norway, and had contacts in the international policing community. He is credited with introducing new investigative techniques, such as the use of police dogs, to Norway. Riisnæs was the public prosecutor in the famous case against Per Imerslund and other Norwegian Nazis who had broken into the home where Leon Trotsky had been staying before his deportation from Norway to Mexico.

He was a supporter of Adolf Hitler, but broke all contact with his German friends when he was appointed by Parliament in January 1940 to investigate German espionage in Norway.

He was appointed councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling (NS) government 1940–1941, and was one of nine Norwegians signing the declaration on 31 January 1942 which disbanded the Parliament of Norway and directed Quisling to formally take over the powers of government. He served as the Minister of Justice from 1941–1945. As Minister of Justice, Riisnæs was responsible for changing the Norwegian legal system to legitimise the Nazi actions, and authorized the persecution of those who would not cooperate with the German occupiers.

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