It was an unusual trial that went before the Møre og Romsdal district court earlier in September. On the prosecution bench sat eight highly trained special soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes – and each with their defender in front of them. They are accused of having left straight from a several-day long march into the city, where they ended up in a drunken mass fight against local youths in Åndalsnes. One of those who were beaten by the soldiers said in court that he was afraid he was going to die. The Møre and Romsdal district court has now determined that six of the special soldiers are guilty of having attacked local young men. Several of them have been sentenced for jointly hitting and kicking. The six must be in prison for between 21 and 60 days. – I am surprised by the outcome for my client, and had expected that he would be acquitted, says Kenneth Leren. He represented one of the soldiers who now has to go to prison and underlines that he has not yet read the verdict. Kenneth Leren is a defender of one of the special soldiers. He says he is surprised by the result. Considering appeal State Attorney Ingvild Thorn Nordheim asked for a prison sentence for all eight, between 24 and 60 days. Now two of them have been completely acquitted, the third partially. – We are satisfied to be heard about the allegation of conviction, and then we get to assess the grounds for the acquittal, says state attorney Ingvild Thorn Nordheim. She has not read the judgment either, but says they will consider appealing the acquittal to the Court of Appeal. Public prosecutor Ingvild Thorn Nordheim and police inspector Anders Skorpen-Trøen in court. Photo: Synnøve Hole / news Two are acquitted Two of the soldiers are acquitted in Møre and Romsdal district court, both for fighting and for disturbing peace and order. One was accused of kicking and hitting a named man, but the court believes this has not been proven, and thus he escaped a prison sentence. The other was accused of, together with several of the others, having attacked a young man. Now he avoided a prison sentence. – It was gratifying, I’m sure he’s very happy with it, and we also think it’s completely correct, says his defender, Mari Vik-Slettvold. She has not yet spoken to her client. In addition, a third soldier was acquitted of the mass brawl, but found guilty of disturbing peace and order. Video from the mass brawl Brawl on a free evening The central question during the trial earlier this month was whether the soldiers acted in self-defence or went on the attack. In court earlier in September, the soldiers explained that they were subjected to death threats, racist calls and attacked by local young men shortly after they went to town. The soldiers explained in court that they tried to calm down the situation, after which it developed into a pitched battle. The court does not believe that: “The violence was not controlled in order to passivize the victim. It is a coincidence that NN suffered nothing but bruises on her body due to the violence. A kick to the body of a person who is lying on the ground has great potential for injury,” the judgment states. It was outside this pub that the mass brawl took place in February 2024. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news Submit film and photo in court In court, several film clips of the brawl were played, where you could see a group attacking a man . The man was laid on the ground and kicked in the head, before he was left lying completely still on the ground. The prosecution claims that the videos show the special forces attacking locals, but several of the defendants deny that they were the ones on the film. All eight soldiers denied criminal liability when they appeared in court. They said in court that they were afraid of losing their jobs in the Belgian defense if they were convicted. The court completely ignores this. The judgment is not legally binding. The soldiers were on winter training at Setnesmoen earlier this year. Photo: Arnt M Olsen Published 04.10.2024, at 13.29 Updated 04.10.2024, at 14.35
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Six Belgian special forces sentenced to prison after mass brawl at Åndalsnes – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
