On Monday, a rare trial starts in the Agder Court of Appeal. A 26-year-old is accused of having married a then 14-year-old girl. His parents are also accused of having contributed to the marriage being entered into. In November last year, all three were convicted in Vestfold District Court for breaking the law that prohibits anyone from marrying a person under the age of 16. All three have appealed the verdict. The case will now go up to the Court of Appeal. It will be about a marriage that will have taken place in a country in Eastern Europe in 2022. Both families belong to a Muslim minority in the country. The man’s family moved to Norway in 2019 to work here. At the start of 2022, father and son took a 14-year-old with them through passport control at Torp airport. There, the police responded that the woman had little luggage, and that she had neither money, bank card nor phone. Through the arrivals hall at Sandefjord Airport Torp, the 14-year-old walked at the start of 2022. Photo: JOHN-ANDRE SAMUELSEN / news The defendants thought the two were just lovers. And that only a “friendship” had been entered into so that the two could meet freely. According to the district court judgment, a “søz” must be less formal than an engagement. The prosecution believes that a marriage-like relationship has been entered into. This means that what has been entered into is perceived as lasting, binding and entails duties for the parties. No one convicted When was the last time someone was convicted for marrying a minor? news found a judgment from 2012. We asked the attorney general if anyone has been convicted since then. The answer was no convictions in the last 12 years. No one has been convicted of child marriage for over ten years. news Brennpunkt has obtained figures from the attorney general on how many have been convicted of marriage to a minor, under the new and old penal code, since 2012. The only judgment that was found was a judgment from the Oslo district court in 2012. There, a couple of parents were sentenced for having married off their daughter who was 15 years old. The couple’s appeal was rejected in 2014. It is pointed out that there may be other judgments that have been incorrectly registered. news has also reviewed Lovdata, for possible sentences that did not appear in the Attorney General’s statistics. Then we found a judgment from 2014 where a 13-year-old girl was forced into a marriage, and then threatened to steal, beg and offer sexual services. A man was convicted of exploiting a person for forced labour. But no one was convicted of child marriage. This despite over 150 inquiries to the competence team, where the main concern was child marriage, in these years. The national competence team receives inquiries from the police, child welfare, schools and other public employees. The police have prosecuted people for child marriage a couple of times in recent years. But those cases have ended in acquittals: Doubt about age In Ålesund, the police were due in court in 2020. A then 25-year-old man was accused of child marriage. In addition, for having had sexual relations with the girl, who was under 16 at the time. At least that’s what the police thought. The girl came with her family for family reunification to Norway in 2012. The father had come a few years earlier as a refugee from Iraq. The defendant explained in court that an acquaintance and the girl’s family arranged for them to get married. In November 2015, they were married in Norway with an imam present. The police seized several photos from what they claim was a wedding party in Sunnmøre in the New Year 2016. This photo was presented in court to show parts of the henna ritual that must have been carried out. Photo: Synnøve Hole / news But how old was she really? Documents from Iraq showed two different dates of birth, one month apart. Assuming one of them, the girl was 14 when they got married. Both the girl herself and her family explained that she was under 16. But the majority of judges thought the man had to be acquitted because there was doubt about the girl’s age. The man, who has now been acquitted, explained in court that he asked the girl’s father for permission to marry her, and that he then paid NOK 70,000 in dowry. This money was later seized by the police during a search at the home of the girl’s parents. Photo: Synnøve Hole / news It is difficult to provide evidence in cases where, for various reasons, the victim may not have a real opportunity to explain himself, explains police attorney Cathrin Remøy. – In this case, it ended up that the victim and her parents were not believed when it came to the information they gave relating to the victim’s age, and the defendant was acquitted, says Remøy, who was in charge of the prosecution. Investigation started a month late In 2015, the police in Gjøvik had to try themselves in court. A parental couple was charged with forced marriage and child marriage. The police believed the parents had taken their then 14-year-old daughter to Iraq and forcibly married her. The court believed that it was absolutely clear that a marriage had been concluded in Iraq, with a child under the age of 16. But if you are to be punished for child marriage, it must happen within 5 years, after it has happened. Five years and 31 days after the wedding, the police made their first search. It was one month too late for the parents to be punished for child marriage. The trial took place inside the Gjøvik courthouse in 2015. Photo: Monica Rikoll / news The girl herself explained in court that the marriage was completely voluntary and something she initiated. At the same time, an SMS she had sent to an embassy employee was presented: “A lot of things have happened to me and I’m not doing well in Iraq. Is there a law that says that because I got married when I was little that my parents will be arrested if I go back to Norway. I have a very bad life”. The court held that it had not been proven that the parents forced the 14-year-old girl in Iraq to marry. They were both acquitted. And the police did not appeal. – The verdict was “according to the circumstances” accepted by the state attorney’s office, replies police attorney Julie Dalsveen. Julie Dalsveen is a police attorney at Innlandet police district. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news 3 years in prison In the trial that will start this week, there has been no doubt about the age of the then 14-year-old girl. The police also started the investigation just months after the alleged marriage. The main question in court will be whether the couple had a marriage-like relationship. The defendants’ defenders all reply that the defendants plead not guilty. They believe that no marriage-like relationship has been entered into. If the court finds that this is child marriage, the accused can be punished with up to 3 years in prison. The man is also accused of having taken pictures of the girl in her underwear, i.e. sexualised pictures of children. Police chief Jasmina desperately tries to save two young Norwegians from being forced into marriage. At the same time, “Nora” is on the run from her parents. Hello! We at news Brennpunkt are working on a larger project on honor crimes. Do you know something? Do you have specific tips for things we should look into? Feel free to get in touch. Send me an email or contact me encrypted on the Signal app on +47 99 45 08 03.
ttn-69
Accused of marrying a 14-year-old – news Dokumentar
