Viggo Kristiansen’s lawyer Brynjar Meling confirms to news that they are now reporting Jan Helge Andersen for false testimony. – He has maintained a false accusation over time, and as long as he does not plead guilty to both conditions, it is implicit that he is maintaining the accusation against an acquitted Viggo Kristiansen, says Meling. – We have a report about a false accusation lying ready, which we have deliberately waited until the decision to reopen was available. Now it is natural to forward the report to the responsible prosecuting authority who will prosecute the case against Andersen, says Meling further. – Why have you waited? – Based on the situation, it was natural to wait for such a reopening, as we could not be sure that the prosecution would bring an independent case against Andersen. Reopens case The Re-admission Commission has decided to reopen the acquittal part of the Kristiansand district court’s judgment of 1 June 2001 regarding Jan Helge Andersen, which concerns the murder of 10-year-old Lena Sløgedal Paulsen, they write in a press release. Andersen denies criminal guilt. Earlier this year, the Attorney General petitioned for the reopening of the part of the criminal case related to Andersen. Jan Helge Andersen’s defender Svein Holden says the following: – We note that the Commission believes that there is a preponderance of probability that Jan Helge Andersen is guilty of the murder, or complicity in the murder, of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. – Andersen maintains, however, that he has not committed, or contributed to, the murder of Paulsen. – I would like to emphasize that a conviction of Andersen requires that the court finds it proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he is guilty. There is a far stricter requirement for the evidence than that which forms the basis of the Commission’s decision. We are now awaiting the court and the prosecution’s view on the further proceedings, he says. New evidence The background to the petition for reopening is new findings of DNA that match Andersen’s from various places on the body or clothes of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. The discovery was made after secured trace material in the case was reviewed and analyzed again in 2021 and 2022 with new and improved analysis techniques. The decision will be sent to the Agder Court of Appeal, which will select a new district court to hear the case. It was VG who mentioned the case first. Illustration of Jan Helge Andersen and an interrogator in an interrogation room. Illustration: Eirik Kirkaune / news Assistance lawyer Audun Beckstrøm says that the parents have started to prepare for a new trial. – The decision was as expected since the attorney general was as clear and clear as he was. So we are satisfied that the decision came before the summer. The parents have now begun to prepare for a new case in court. It will of course be difficult to relive everything, but at the same time they are looking forward to having the matter illuminated again. They have always wanted an explanation, and now they hope they will get it. Who killed Lena and who and who raped and killed the two girls, says Beckstrøm. – Not likely During the district court’s proceedings, only traces of DNA from Jan Helge Andersen were found on Stine Sofie Sørstrønen and not on Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. The new DNA analyzes in the case show that Jan Helge Andersen has had a different relationship with Lena Sløgedal Paulsen than what he himself has explained and the district court assumed, writes the Re-admission Commission in its decision. They believe that this is new evidence, which suggests that the case should be reopened. The district court also emphasized Andersen’s explanation about his own behavior and acquitted him of murder or complicity in the murder of Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. Jan Helge Andersen has not disputed the new DNA analyses, and it is acknowledged in the comments submitted by his defense that they provide grounds for establishing that Andersen’s explanation about the sexual assaults he has carried out is unlikely to be correct. Andersen’s defender nevertheless believes that there is a preponderance of probability that Kristiansen was at the scene, and that it is not likely that Andersen killed Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. Jan Helge Andersen in the car, with defender Svein Holden outside, in connection with an interrogation in the Baneheia case. Photo: Runar Henriksen Jørstad / news The evidence picture is different In the new interviews in 2021 and 2022 Andersen has not given any reasonable explanation for the new DNA findings. He has repeatedly explained in the new interrogations that he can only remember one assault, and he has stuck to his explanation that he did not kill Lena Sløgedal Paulsen. When asked confrontational questions, he often expresses “I don’t know”, writes the commission. With the new DNA results and the consequences this information has for the assessment of Andersen’s credibility, the evidence picture is substantially different today than when the Kristiansand District Court dealt with the case, the commission concludes. The leader of the readmission commission explains why the case is being taken up now. – Because the commission has concluded that the conditions for resumption have been met, says leader Anne Kamilla Silseth. – How unusual is it for a criminal case to be reopened against a person? – It rarely happens. I think the commission has had four or five cases where this happens. It is rare that it is petitioned for retrial unfavorably, and it is rare for it to be retried unfavorably. So it is rare, says Silseth.
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The case against Jan Helge Andersen is reopened – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
