Fosen activists to the Court of Appeal: – Thought we were done – news Sápmi

Loga sámegillii. 18 Fosen shareholders had to appear in court in March. They did not want to pay the fines they received in connection with the occupation of the Ministry of Energy and the blocking of the Ministry of Finance and Keysers gate 6. On 9 April, all the activists were acquitted in the District Court, but the prosecution appealed this to the Court of Appeal. Now it has been decided: Now 13 Fosen shareholders must again appear in court. It was decided by a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal on 22 August. – I thought we were done – It is very stressful that the court process has to go through again, and again have to talk and go through what we have felt in the last year. That’s what Mihkkal Hætta says to news. He is one of the 18 campaigners who now have to appear in court again. ONE OF 18: Mihkkal Hætta is one of 18 shareholders who must now appear in the Court of Appeal Photo: Inga Maret Solberg Åhren / news – We thought we were done with the case, but it won’t let go of us, says Hætta. – We just have to recognize the position we are put in and pull up our arms and fight back, he adds. – Will be exciting! In the Court of Appeal’s decision, it appears that they believe there are things in the case that speak for running it once more through the legal system. – Are you prepared to take a possible punishment? – Of course, we believe that we have done nothing wrong. That we have fought for our human rights. Being punished for it sounds completely absurd. Hätta has also campaigned for five weeks in a lavvo outside the Storting. LAVVO: Mihkkal Hætta spent a long time in his lavvo outside the Storting. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB If the campaigners lose in the Court of Appeal, Hætta says they will consider appealing the case to the Supreme Court. – It is a case that has great interest in the Norwegian judiciary, so it will be exciting to see what the Court of Appeal says about it. The time for the trial has not yet been decided. – We want to go straight! – We are disappointed that we have to spend more of our time on this legal process. That’s what Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen says to news. She says they would like to spend their time working on what they are passionate about. To stop encroachments on reindeer grazing areas. OUTSIDE THE CASTLE: During one of the Fosen campaigns, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen gave a speech outside the castle and asked the king for help. Photo: DRAGAN CUBRILO / news But even if the disappointment is now great, Isaksen says they will go into the courtroom with straight backs. – We are prepared for a new round, and we will go straight into the Court of Appeal, she says. Must take a break Fosen campaigner Ida Helene Benonisen was carried out by the Ministry of Oil and Energy in the middle of the night. EXPLAINS HERSELF: Ida Helene Benonisen from when she explained herself in the Oslo district court. Photo: Håkon Mudenia / news She has recently moved to Kautokeino to learn Northern Sami, but says she may now have to take a break. – The fact that my education in the language will probably have to take a break because I have to sit as a defendant instead, it’s really crazy, she says. The shareholders have not had the opportunity to discuss this together yet, but she says it is important that they now take care of each other – because it is a heavy and demanding process that we have to go through, says Benonisen. Benonisen thinks the state should use its resources differently. – I believe that the state should spend energy on things other than prosecuting us, says Benonisen to news. Hoping for an acquittal – I am of course standing in solidarity with the campaigners who have to go to the Court of Appeal now. That’s what Anja Jernsletten says to news. She is deputy leader of the Sami youth organization Noereh and was herself a demonstrator during the waterfall action. Anja Jernsletten is deputy leader of the Sami youth organization Noereh. Photo: Privat Now she hopes the campaigners will again be acquitted. – We have to believe and hope that they will be acquitted and that the case will be dealt with fairly and explained. Published 27.08.2024, at 15.20 Updated 27.08.2024, at 18.08



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