In the summer of 2022, a seven-year-old boy was found tied to the bed in an apartment in Bergen. The case led to the children’s welfare in Bergen receiving extensive criticism. The city council resigned as a result of the case. The father himself documented the injuries the boy suffered. Throughout the trial, the father has not answered questions. He has been blindfolded and wearing earplugs to block out sound and light. – Beyond and sadistic A central question in the case is whether the father was sane when the abuse occurred. If he is not, he cannot be punished either. In several cases during the trial, he has acted out and been put to the ground by police officers. In recent days, he has not followed the case. Experts have previously said that the results appear fabricated. They have assessed that the man is sane and can be punished. Prosecutor Asbjørn Onarheim therefore believes that the man must be punished. He submitted a request for ten years’ detention with a minimum term of seven years. – An attempt to avoid punishment is a natural reaction when the use of violence is so beyond and sadistic, prosecutor Onarheim said in court. Captured by IS On Tuesday, the court received the man’s explanation for the first time, through a 200-page written document that has been translated from Arabic into Norwegian. Growing up with many siblings, he felt like a slave. The father was controlling and violent. He beat with a cane, refused the children food if they were not present for dinner at the minute and otherwise kept his whole family in a regime of violence. He describes that he was forced into marriage, and that he was unable to fall in love with the woman from whom he was divorced. In 2015, he decided to run away from his family and abusive father, according to the statement. On the way he was arrested by the authorities and was tortured by them, he claims. He was in prison for 86 days after what the defender describes as a random arrest. Lawyer Ahmad Taha has selected parts of the 200-page explanation that is read in court Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news The description of everyday life in the prison consists of cramped conditions, hour-long toilet queues and prisoners who died and were left lying around. Almost no food – a handful of bulgur if you were lucky, he describes. No breakfast, no dinner. Little water. The man eventually got out and continued to flee. For a period he volunteered for an aid organisation, and was kidnapped by IS because he would not give the location of a medical warehouse. He flees to Norway. – We want to show that he has war and violence trauma when he comes to Norway, says defender Ahmad Taha. Assistance lawyer May Britt Løvik and prosecutor Asbjørn Onarheim. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg Family reunification As he settled in a municipality in Norway, he learned about family reunification. In the effort to get the son to his new homeland, the child was placed in an orphanage in another country. During this time, the boy is said to have forgotten how to speak Arabic. When he came to Norway, the father and the boy first had good days together. Eventually, the language problems between them became frustrating for the father. The prosecutor believes that the frustration turned into anger, which ended in violence against the boy.
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The father claims he himself was tortured by IS – news Vestland
