– It’s the first time I’ve met my cousin and his father, and it was powerful. So I understand that you want to make a claim for compensation, and I want to make arrangements for it to go quickly to the extent that I have the opportunity to do so. This is what Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl told news when she came out of the meeting with the cousin of Birgitte Tengs, who has been charged with what is seen as one of the worst judicial murders in recent Norwegian legal history. The cousin’s father was also at the meeting. – Enough is enough. Now is the time to clean up, says the cousin’s father, Jakob, to news. Jakob, father of the cousin, together with lawyers Arvid Sjødin and Kristian Aalmo. Photo: Gisle Jørgensen / news – Positive meeting After a 26-year battle against the legal system, the cousin of Birgitte Tengs met the Minister of Justice today for the first time. The Ministry of Justice has called the meeting a listening meeting. – It was a very positive meeting. They were committed to what I could tell about, and had knowledge of it from before, says the cousin’s defender, Arvid Sjødin. Lawyer Arvid Sjødin. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit Fetteren was in 1998 acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs in the Gulating Court of Appeal, but still sentenced to pay her parents NOK 100,000 in compensation. The verdict thus branded the cousin as a murderer, even though the jury acquitted him. The cousin has had this stamp since the verdict came, fighting to get rid of it. After countless court rounds throughout the 2000s, the Agder Court of Appeal annulled the compensation judgment in November 2022. Mehl: Glad that the verdict has been overturned Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl tells news after the meeting that it was a strong meeting. – They tell about many difficult years because of the compensation judgment that has hung over the cousin. I am happy that it has been annulled and that it has been established that the cousin is innocent, says Mehl. Now they will arrange for the cousin to submit a compensation claim. – It is too early to decide on a possible compensation claim, but I must contribute in the way that is possible for me to ensure that the waiting time does not become too long before this can be put behind them, she says. She further says that there has been a request for legal assistance to prepare the claim for compensation. –- We have asked the state administrator to prioritize that application so that we can get on with it quickly. Minister of Justice and Emergency Emilie Enger Mehl had a meeting with the cousin of Birgitte Tengs today. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news She will not rule out a possible advance payment, such as Viggo Kristiansen received, even if the cases are different. But first a decision must be made as to whether the cousin should receive compensation at all. Must present a claim for compensation In the meeting, they emphasized the strain this has been on the cousin, and according to Sjødin, it seems that there is a desire from the Ministry of Justice for this to be resolved. – We have to put forward a demand, but they seem very positive, says Sjødin. They do not want to say anything about what the size of the compensation claim from the cousin will be. Nor will they say anything about how long it will take to make a claim. In October 2022, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl stated that she would look at the legislation that led to the cousin being both acquitted and sentenced to compensation for the murder. This was also a topic during today’s meeting. – They assured us that they worked on it, says Sjødin. The cousin himself followed the meeting via link from abroad. He has lived here for several years, and has in practice been banned from working in Norway, says lawyer Arvid Sjødin. 12 years ago he received an offer from a Norwegian bank, but when they found out that he was Birgitte Tengs’ cousin, they withdrew the job offer. He later won against the bank in court. The Minister of Justice has not apologized. The case is seen as one of the worst judicial murders in Norwegian history, and the cousin received an apology in October from the Attorney General, the director of police and the then head of investigations in Kripos. The Minister of Justice has not apologized, but Sjødin says that they got the impression that what was said during the meeting was sincere and that they understood the problem. Kristian Aalmo and Anders Ryssdal from the law firm Glittertind are the ones who will present the compensation claim. Aalmo says there is no doubt that mistakes have been made on the part of the state in this case. – We want to work as quickly as possible to draw up a requirement that the state can decide on. It is challenging work, he says. The cousin’s father, Jakob, does not want to comment further on the meeting. Jakob, father of the cousin and Arvid Sjødin on the way to the meeting between the cousin and the Minister of Justice. Photo: Gisle Jørgensen / news “Inhumane treatment” Two court decisions have gone the cousin’s way in recent months. The Agder Court of Appeal annulled the compensation verdict, and then the Haugaland and Sunnhordland district court on Monday 6 February sentenced Johny Vassbakk to 17 years in prison for the murder of Birgitte Tengs. In the latest judgment, it is stated, among other things, that the cousin was subjected to inhumane treatment and psychological torture during interrogation, which led to him making a false confession.
ttn-69
Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl will not promise compensation to the cousin – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
