– The 6-year-old was deprived of the right to a fair trial. This is a violation of the European Commission on Human Rights, says Sigurd Klomsæt. He is the lawyer for one of the three “perpetrators” who were 4, 5 and 6 years old when they were blamed for the death of 5-year-old Siljes Marie Redergård in 1994. After the Silje case was reopened in 2021, the Attorney General recently concluded that the police in Trondheim grossly failed in its investigation. There was no “… basis for establishing that the three boys caused Silje’s death.” Now, both the 5-year-old and the 6-year-old, via their lawyers, have raised claims for redress against the Norwegian Civil Rights Administration. Johannes Wegner Mæland is the lawyer for the “5-year-old” Photo: Ole Jørgen Kostadbråthen / news – The boys are now acquitted, after being branded as murderers for 29 years, with the dramatic consequences it has had for themselves and their families, says Johannes W. Mæland, the 5-year-old’s lawyer. Placed in separate foster homes – By establishing guilt without treating the case legally, the presumption of innocence according to the Norwegian constitution was violated both by the police and by the prosecution, says the 6-year-old’s lawyer. Although the 6-year-old was a minor and was not formally punished, he was in reality punished very severely, Klomsæt points out. The lawyer points out that the 6-year-old and his sister were “forcibly placed” in separate foster homes. And that this led to the 6-year-old being exposed to “enormous interventions” in his life. – My sister and I were placed in each of our foster homes. We were not allowed to spend time with mother at the same time, says the 6-year-old. He still strongly feels the sense of injustice. And he missed being a family and living at home with his mother. – I remember to this day the way I felt opposed. All the adults, except my mother and father, thought I had done the misdeed, even though I tried in vain to say I hadn’t, says the 6-year-old. Five-year-old Silje Marie Redergård was found dead at the top of a toboggan run in Trondheim in 1994. Photo: Privat / news – Branded as a murderer It didn’t help how much the 6-year-old tried to say that he had not participated in the mistreatment of Silje: – Since I was 6 years old, I have had a stamp on me as a murderer. I have had to live with this almost my whole life. Mæland believes that the Silje case has obviously had a very negative impact on the 5-year-old’s life. – It was decisive for him developing serious substance abuse problems early on. It is just luck that he is alive, says Mæland. The boy was placed in a foster home on a completely different side of the country, far from his mother and siblings. – The 5-year-old’s classmates and their guardians also received information about what he had allegedly done, which contributed to serious social stigmatisation, says Mæland. Helle, the 5-year-old was perceived as willing to accept that he was an accomplice in Silje’s death. Lawyer Sigurd Klomsæt is the lawyer for the “6-year-old” Photo: Ole Jørgen Kolstadbråthen / news – Children’s welfare and the school based the police’s conclusion on the case. They therefore reacted strongly to the boys’ lack of a guilty conscience, says Klomsæt. Taken to Silje’s grave For the 6-year-old, this had major consequences. He tells of parents who objected to their children going to class with a child killer. – Several times I was stopped by parents at the door of playmates’ homes, where the others were allowed in, but not me, he recalls. Both in the nursery and in the primary school, an adult was employed to follow and make sure that the 6-year-old would not be a danger to other children. Child protection ensured that he had to go to a psychologist over several years. – All the psychologists I went to worked on the basis that I had committed the crime against Silje. Everyone explained that I was going to struggle with this as an adult if I didn’t accept the misdeed and started processing it together with them, says the 6-year-old. In the documentary series “Murder on the toboggan run”, Brennpunkt revealed that the 5-year-old was regularly taken to Silje’s grave and the crime scene when he was placed in a nursery after the boys were blamed for her death. Now the 6-year-old says that the same thing happened to him. – Several times I was taken on a drive to Silje’s grave and was told that “there lies Silje” and “it is your actions that make her lie there”. The 5-year-old and the 6-year-old embraced each other after the public prosecutor announced that they are now to be considered innocent. Photo: Ole Jørgen Kolstadbråten / news Requires a minimum of 5 million in advance For the 5-year-old’s part, the treatment at the kindergarten became even more dramatic. The 5-year-old’s lawyer believes that this is also important for the claim for restitution. – He was exposed to violence by treatment workers in the municipalities, so that he would understand what it was like to be inflicted with pain, says Mæland. The 5-year-old says that his life has changed dramatically after the reopening of the Silje case. – It was a release to be known guilt-free. It has meant that I have managed to become drug-free, he says. But the traces of a life marked as a “murderer” since he was 5 years old – placed in a foster home far from his mother – are concrete and burdensome. The years of addiction mean that he struggles with large debts. He was blamed for Silje’s death as a five-year-old. It had enormous consequences for the rest of his life. Photo: Ole Jørgen Kolstadbråten / news – An advance on compensation will mean a lot to me on the positive journey forward in life that I have started, says the 5-year-old. Both lawyers are now asking on behalf of their clients to be paid an advance on the claim. The 5-year-old has not quantified the claim. For the 6-year-old, the requirement is a minimum of NOK 5 million. – It will take years before he gets a final answer from the State. We don’t have time to wait for that. That is why we demand an advance on the compensation, says Klomsæt.
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Demands millions in compensation for a ruined life – news Dokumentar
